The International Court of Justice threw out most of Ukraine's case against Russia in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014.
The U.N.'s top court on Wednesday largely dismissed Kyiv's accusations that Russia funded pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's east, saying only cash transfers could be viewed as support for alleged terrorists.
But justices found in a 117-page ruling that Russia violated parts of two anti-terrorism treaties by not investigating funding and failing to protect the Ukrainian language in Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
Judges once again ordered Moscow to probe any plausible financing allegations.
ICJ refused to order Russia to compensate victims, however, and declined to rule on whether Moscow bore responsibility for downing the civilian aircraft.
First of two Ukraine vs. Russia cases this week
Russia denies any involvement with Russia-backed rebels who shot down MH17 on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew.
In Nov. 2022, a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian of being involved in the attack and sentenced them, in absentia, to life in prison.
The court – which has no means of enforcing its orders – also ruled that Russia violated one of its orders by launching its 2022 full-scale invasion in Ukraine.
On Friday, the ICJ plans to rule in another case brought by Ukraine against Russia in which Kyiv accuses Moscow of falsely using the Genocide Convention as a rationale for the invasion.
