Michael Kooren / Reuters
The Netherlands and Australia have formally blamed the Russian state for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, which killed all 298 aboard. In a statement released Friday, the foreign-affairs minister of the Netherlands said: “The Netherlands and Australia are now convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the BUK installation that was used to down MH17. The government is now taking the next step by formally holding Russia accountable.” The countries say a “possible” next step is to present their case to an international court or organization for their judgment. Russia has always denied any involvement, and said Thursday that none of its missile launchers have ever entered Ukraine, despite photo evidence shown by prosecutors. An international team of investigators concluded Thursday that a Russian military missile was responsible for shooting down Flight 17.