By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Managing Editor 

KIEV, Ukraine – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, a civilian airliner, was shot out of the skies above the Ukraine on Thursday as the plane was flying over the disputed regions of eastern Ukraine. The airliner, a Boeing 777, is believed to have been shot down by a surface-to-air Missile, U.S. officials say. 298 lives were lost in the attack. World leaders have called on the Ukraine and Russia to allow an international investigation into the attack. The United Nations Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member, was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting Friday to discuss attack. The United Nations Security Council called for “full, thorough and independent international investigation” into downing of Malaysian plane above Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko addressed the nation early Friday, placing blame for the horrific attack on pro-Russian separatists whom he suggested are acting as the puppets of Russian leaders. Charges that the Russian federation and pro-Russian separatists both denied. “War has gone beyond the territory of Ukraine,” Poroshenko said. “Consequences of this war have already reached the whole world.”

Pro-Russian separatists fighting have agreed to allow access to the crash site to investigators international monitors in the region said. However, the Ukrainian government said the rebels were still keeping all but local emergency workers away from the site.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called for swift, international justice. “This is a crime against humanity. All red lines have been already crossed. This is the deadline,” he said. “We ask our international partners to call an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting and to [do] everything we can to stop this war: a war against Ukraine, a war against Europe, and after these terrorists shot down a Malaysian aircraft, this is the war against the world.”

A pro-Russian rebel leader had reportedly briefly claimed restorability via Twitter for shooting down a jet he claimed was a Ukrainian military aircraft. However, soon after it was established that the downed plane was a civilian airliner the Tweet was reportedly removed.

European Union leaders agreed this earlier week to expand sanctions against individuals and entities in response to Russia role in contributing to conflict in the Ukraine. The details of the sanctions will be decided by the end of the month. The Obama Administration also announced plans to expand U.S. Sanctions against Russia before the attack. The sanctioned would target Russian interests including Energy companies.

The majority of people on board the Malaysian airliner were Dutch citizens. Preliminary reports of the crash. The Dutch prime minister on Thursday ordered that flags fly at half-mast at government buildings across the Netherlands to mourn the 154 Dutch citizens lost in the attack which he says may be the worst air disaster in Dutch history.

The attack also dealt a devastating blow to the International AIDS community. As many as 108 Aides experts, researchers, activists and health workers who were traveling to an International Aids Conference in Australia may have been on board the plane. The Australian reported that up to 108 delegates to the 20th international AIDS congruence in Melbourne Australia, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday, are believed to have been killed on board flight MH17.

“There’s been confirmed a number of senior people who were coming out here who were researchers, who were medical scientists, doctors, people who’ve been to the forefront of dealing with AIDS across the world,” Victoria Premier Denis Napthine told reporters in Melbourne on Friday. “The exact number is not yet known, but there is no doubt it’s a substantial number.”

The International AIDS Society issued a brief statement Thursday night following the attack saying that “a number of colleagues and friends” were on the flight. “At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy,” the statement said.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that among the dead are international renowned AIDS researcher Joep Lange, of the University of Amsterdam, and World Health Organization spokesman Glenn Thomas. Lange played a critical role in leading local trials of antiretroviral therapies and led research into the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He served as president of the International AIDS society from 2002-2004, and is a founder and co-editor-in-chief of the journal Antiviral Therapy. Lange’s work played a critical role in bringing treatment for HIV/AIDS to the developing world, saving countless lives. Former United States President and AIDS advocate Bill Clinton who is scheduled to speak at the conference referred to the AIDS workers lost on the flight as “Martyrs for the Cause.”

For more information please see:

BBC News – Accusations Fly As Investigators Seek Answers over MH17 Crash in Ukraine – 18 July 2014

CNN International – Accusations Fly As Investigators Seek Answers over MH17 Crash in Ukraine – 18 July 2014

The Washington Post – Rebels in Eastern Ukraine Pledge Access to Plane Crash Site, but Kiev Cites Restrictions – 18 July 2014

Reuters – Netherlands in Mourning After at Least 154 Dutch Die in Ukraine Crash –17 July 2014