NEW YORK
Russia vetoed Wednesday a UN Security Council draft resolution that would have established an international tribunal to investigate the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in July 2014.
Eleven members backed the resolution prepared by Australia, Belgium, Ukraine and the Netherlands, while Russia vetoed and Angola, China and Venezuela abstained. A resolution needs 9 votes in favor to be adopted and no veto by any of the five permanent memers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S.
All 298 passengers and crew aboard Kuala Lumpur-bound Flight MH17 died when the aircraft was shot down on July 17, 2014 over eastern Ukraine, after departing from Amsterdam.
Ukraine and the West have accused pro-Russian separatists of shooting down the plane, a claim Moscow has rejected.
The resolution aimed to prosecute and charge those found responsible for downing the ill-fated plane.
"The veto only compounds the atrocity," Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said after the vote.
"The exercise of the veto today is an affront to the memory of the 298 victims of MH17 and their families and friends", she added.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said: “Russia has callously disregarded the public outcry in the grieving nations. By vetoing this resolution, Russia has tried to deny justice to the 298 victims on that plane, and deny their families a chance to hold accountable those responsible."
Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin criticized the statements by Western diplomats, calling them "offensive," and claimed Russian investigators would have been excluded from the tribunal.
Earlier this month, Moscow reportedly drafted an alternative resolution that called for an international investigation instead of a tribunal.
Immediately after the tragedy, in July 2014, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2166, demanding that those responsible be held to account and that all states should cooperate fully in efforts to establish accountability.
