Putin will never apologise for Malaysian Airlines MH17 plane crash disaster for two key reasons

Vladimir Putin will never apologise for the downing of flight MH17 for one key reason despite multiple agencies blaming for . The United Nations (UN) aviation council ruled Russia was responsible over the shooting down of on July 17, 2014. The move prompted reparation demands for the families of the victims.

All 298 passengers and crew members, the overwhelming majority of which were Dutch, on board the flight died in the crash. Among the dead in the disaster were 10 British passengers whose families lives' were ruined. The British passengers who died were: John Adler, John Allen, Stephen Anderson, Robert Ayley, Camron Dalziel, Andrew Hoare, Richard Mayne, Ben Peacock Liam Sweeney and Glenn Thomas.

Russia has always denied responsibility for while it was flying over eastern , a region under the control of Russian separatists at the time. Dutch investigators reported in 2016 that MH17 was struck by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from the pro-Russian separatist territory.

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Putin psychology

Putin's wider approach to the conflict in Ukraine was seen as a paradox, as he launched the invasion despite the obvious strategic, political and economic consequences for Russia. Ben Soodavar, a PhD candidate at King College London's Department of War Studies, the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.

Mr Soodavar said Putin is keen to avoid Russia's public from turning against him. "Losing both prestige and political support is a prospect that Putin cannot fathom and will force his hand," he said in a post shared to the university's website in 2022. "Dead Russian soldiers will inevitably turn Russia’s domestic audience against him, especially when many Russians view this war as unnecessary."

Admitting any responsibility for MH17 would likely sour some Russian attitudes toward the country's approach to the war from its outset, something he cannot afford at this stage in the conflict.

Consuelo Thiers, a postdoctoral researcher at the Ghent Institute for International and European Studies gave an insight into how Putin's mindset has changed over the years. "His views on the best strategy for achieving political goals shifted from a cooperative approach to a conflictual one. Rather than exercising power through cooperative means, he began to employ combative methods," Thiers said in a .

"Putin stopped believing it was helpful to make promises. Rather, he began to consider threats, punishments and opposition as the best strategies to achieve his goals. Whether these perceptions are based on objective facts is up for debate.

"However, my results show that Putin's beliefs about the political changed radically. Putin started to perceive the world as increasingly hostile towards Russia, and began to doubt he would achieve his goals using cooperative tactics.

"This gives weight to the idea that Putin felt increasingly threatened by the political context, and sensed his influence in world affairs had weakened. This, subsequently, led Putin to believe that the best response to any threat was a hostile one."

Russia's history of denial

The Kremlin has a lengthy history of denying responsibility over attacks and plots carried out both within and outside of its borders. Putin's cronies denied being behind the botched March 4, 2018, Novichok attempted poisonings of Sergei Skripal, an ex-Russian military officer, in Salisbury. A perfume bottle, containing the poison, was found and later used by Dawn Sturgess who fell ill and died on July 8.

Putin himself stopped short of taking responsibility for an Azerbaijan Airlines crash on December 2024, despite overwhelming evidence pointing toward Russia - although he did apologise. The crash resulted in the deaths of 38 people and happened as Russian cities faced attacks from unmanned Ukrainian drones. Putin called the incident "tragic", and that it happened as Russian air defence systems had been combating the drones - although he stopped short of accepting blame for the disaster.

The Russian leader has also denied any involvement in the deaths or disappearances of his political rivals, despite numerous accusations being levelled against his regime by Western governments and international organisations. Russian survived an attempted poisoning with the Novichok nerve agent in 2020, with him laying the blame squarely at Putin.

Russian officials later announced Navalny had died in prison, sparking protests and further accusations against Putin's regime. Prior to his death, Navalny complained of malnutrition and that he had been mistreated in prison.