Eindhoven Honored the Memory of the Victims of the MH17 Crash
In Eindhoven, Ukrainians, together with relatives of those who died on Flight MH17 and representatives of the municipality, paid tribute to the victims of the tragedy. Those attending the ceremony laid bouquets of sunflowers and observed a moment of silence in honor of the deceased.
The MH17 memorial is located near the military airbase in Eindhoven. It was to this military airbase that planes arrived carrying the remains of those who died in the crash of the Boeing 777 that was operating Flight MH17 (Amsterdam–Kuala Lumpur) on July 17, 2014.
“I remember very well when the remains of the victims arrived in Eindhoven. First, they were transported by train from Donbas to Kharkiv, and from there they were flown to the Netherlands. There are many photos of those arrival ceremonies. Every time a special vehicle drove past us, I thought my loved ones might be inside it. It was incredibly emotional. The next step was the identification of the bodies. Most people think that intact bodies were returned to the Netherlands, but that’s not the case. In reality, they were mostly separate body parts. In our case, we were told that all three of our loved ones had been identified, but only based on individual body parts. We were advised not to open the coffins or see what was inside, so that we could preserve the images of our loved ones in our memories,” said Anton Kotte, a board member of the Dutch “Air Crash” Foundation—which represents a large group of relatives of the MH17 victims—to Ukrinform. Kotte lost his eldest son, daughter-in-law, and six-year-old grandson in the tragedy. He came to honor their memory together with his younger son and his son’s wife.
Kotte also noted that the story behind the MH17 monument in Eindhoven is no less striking and tragic.
“The 298 stones symbolize the victims of this tragedy. At the top is a sphere; it is hollow, as it symbolizes loss. Surrounding it is a bracelet that says we will never forget them. It was created by a 98-year-old artist, and he passed away shortly after completing the work—before he could see the official unveiling,” Kotte said.
The monument bears the inscription “I will never forget you,” and this message is symbolic not only for those who lost loved ones aboard Flight MH17 but also for Ukrainians, as people continue to die every day as a result of Russian aggression.
Ukrainians living in Eindhoven also came to the monument with flowers and candles. Among them was Serhiy Bachynskyi, who has lived with his family in the Netherlands for many years. He knew Anton Kotte’s son well; they worked together at the same company.
“My colleague, whom I knew well, was flying on that plane to go on vacation. Unfortunately, I never saw him again. That’s exactly why I came to the memorial today with my wife and two children to honor the memory of all the victims of this tragedy. I still work at the same company, and today I told my colleagues that after work I would definitely come here to remember both our Dutch colleague and the Ukrainians who died because of Russia’s war against Ukraine. We now have a common enemy, and he must be held accountable for all the crimes committed against people. A country can be rebuilt, but human lives cannot be brought back. Unfortunately,” Bachynskyi told Ukrinform.
On the night of July 19, Russian troops launched a ballistic missile strike on Kyiv. One person was killed and eight others were wounded as a result of the attack. Damage and fires were reported in five districts of the capital.
Throughout the day on July 17, Russian troops launched strikes on Kharkiv and 29 other settlements in the Kharkiv region. Two people were killed and 18 others were injured as a result of the shelling; among the victims were five children.
Throughout the day on July 17, the Chernihiv region came under attack from enemy drones. Fires broke out in several districts at once, but Ukrainian rescue workers have already extinguished them.
