Good morning. A fair bit of news from overnight.
-- Savchenko trial is due to open in Russia today
-- Russia has been criticized for its MH17 veto
-- IMF lauds Ukraine for its reforms
-- Ukraine charges Russian major with terrorism
This ends our live blogging for July 29. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
"ICAO" is presumably International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency. Wikipedia says:
Most air accident investigations are carried out by an agency of a country that is associated in some way with the accident. For example, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch conducts accident investigations on behalf of the British Government. ICAO has conducted three investigations involving air disasters, of which two were passenger airliners shot down while in international flight over hostile territory.
1. Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 which was shot down on 21 February 1973 by Israeli F-4 jets over the Sinai Peninsula during a period of tension that led to the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War killing 108 people.
2. Korean Air Lines Flight 007, which was shot down on 1 September 1983 by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor near Moneron Island just west of Sakhalin Island during a period of heightened Cold War tension killing all 269 people on board including U.S. Congressman Larry McDonald.[26]
3. UTA Flight 772, which was destroyed by a bomb on 19 September 1989 above the Sahara Desert in Niger, en route from N'Djamena, Chad, to Paris, France. The explosion caused the aircraft to break up, killing all 156 passengers and 15 crew members, including the wife of U.S. Ambassador Robert L. Pugh. Investigators determined that a bomb placed in the cargo hold by Chadian rebels backed by Libya was responsible for the explosion. A French court convicted in absentia six Libyans of planning and implementing the attack.[27]
More on Russia's veto:
Russia has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have created a tribunal to try those suspected of shooting down flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
Eleven countries on the 15-member council voted in favor of the proposal by Malaysia, Australia, the Netherlands, and Ukraine on July 29.
China, Venezuela, and Angola abstained from the vote.
The draft resolution requires all countries to cooperate with the special tribunal or face sanctions.
Earlier on July 29 Russian President Vladimir Putin told Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in a phone call that he opposed the creation of an international criminal tribunal.
All 298 passengers died, most of them Dutch citizens, when the plane was shot down in Ukrainian territory held by Russian backed-separatists. (Reuters, AFP)