Relatives of the victims of the MH17 disaster are closely following the war in Ukraine. The crash took place on July 17, 2014 in eastern Ukraine, one of the regions currently under fighting. Four pro-Russian rebels (three Russians and one Ukrainian) are on trial for shooting down the plane.
Silene Fredriksz lost her son Bryce and his friend Daisy, who flew to Bali for a holiday. Fredriksz feels connected to the Ukrainians. “You’re fighting the same enemy, that’s how I feel. Both Ukraine and we are fighting against the Kremlin, which admits nothing, accuses others of lies and is brutal and ruthless.”
Clinical psychologist Jos de Keijser of the University of Groningen conducted research into bereavement among MH17 relatives. He thinks that Putin’s actions can cause people’s emotions to flare up fiercely. “It makes them extra angry that those responsible for the deaths of their loved ones are now doing even more horrible things.”
De Keijser compares it with the feelings of the family of a murder victim: “If the perpetrator makes a mistake again, the family of the first victim often experiences a setback in their coping process. For some relatives of victims of the MH17 disaster, the Russian invasion of Ukraine had a similar effect.”
twisting facts
The fact that Putin is in the news every day makes it difficult for families of MH17 victims to ignore painful similarities, De Keijser notes: “They see that Russian media tell a completely different story. That was also the case with the MH17 process: according to Russian media it would all be wrong and no Russian missile had been fired at all. That twisting of facts is now repeating itself. Some relatives suffer from it and it is difficult to focus on other things, because half the newspaper is filled with the war in Ukraine.”
Fredriksz and her family would like to go to the place in Ukraine where the plane crashed at the time. They fear that that opportunity has now been lost. “We want to be there, in the place where our children died. Very little of Bryce and Daisy has been found and what we have has been badly burned. There, in Ukraine, are their remains, their ashes.” Fredriksz would also like to speak with the local population. “We want to meet them and thank them, but if the Russians take over we can’t go there.”
