(Reuters) — The U.N. Security Council is to vote on Wednesday (July 29) on a bid for an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of downing a passenger airliner a year ago in Ukraine, but Russia says it is likely to block the move.
On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in eastern Ukraine with 298 passengers on board, two-thirds of them Dutch.
It crashed in Ukrainian territory held by Russian-backed separatists.
Malaysia, part of the 15-member council until 2016, distributed a draft resolution on an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of downing the plane.
in July. It is a joint proposal with Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Ukraine.
However, the move has been dismissed by Russia, which is a veto-wielding permanent member on the 15-member council, along with France, Britain, China and the United States. Russia has the option of blocking the proposal if it is put to a vote.
Malaysia Airlines MH17 was shot down a year ago with 298 passengers on board, two-thirds of them Dutch. It crashed in Ukrainian territory held by Russian-backed separatists.
Ukraine and Western countries accuse rebels in eastern Ukraine of shooting down the plane with a Russian-made missile.
Moscow has rejected accusations it supplied the rebels with SA-11 Buk anti-aircraft missile systems.
Russia for its part has put forward a scenario, denied by Kiev, that the airliner was downed by a rocket fired from a Ukrainian fighter jet.
