Their loved ones no longer being present in their everyday lives is obviously the hardest outcome for the families to cope with. Quinn Schansman’s father says that he still expects his son, who travelled a lot, to come through the door any minute: ‘I keep thinking, well this time he’s been gone for so long …’ A mother of a MH17 victim claims that ‘there is nothing more prominently present in one’s life than a child that isn’t there anymore’. A father wonders if he will one day be strong enough to be able to remember his son’s life, instead of always thinking of his son in terms of his death.
Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris lost their three young children and Marite’s father in the MH17 disaster. Their lives were torn apart by the deaths. Two years after that horrific event the couple showed the world that, although hatred has the power to destroy life, it is love that possesses the unique ability to create it. Their daughter, Violet May Maslin, came into the world on 10 May 2016. ‘We still live with pain, but Violet, and the knowledge that all four kids are with us always, brings light to our darkness. Violet’s birth is a testament to our belief that love is stronger than hate.’ The message was signed by Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris.
In June 2018, 298 empty chairs were placed in front of the Russian embassy in The Hague, Netherlands. It was meant as a silent protest in the name of those who were no longer there and no longer had a voice. The year before, in the same park opposite the embassy, the same group had installed a remembrance bench carrying the following message to Russia: ‘Take responsibility and be transparent.’ The message the activists conveyed to the president, government and people of Russia in June 2018 was: ‘298 people, 80 of them forever children, have nothing to celebrate today. Their seats remain empty. Those who sealed their fate are silent and look away.’
Today the chairs have gone, but the memorial bench is still there.
Yulia Tymoshenko campaigning on 18 February 2006 in Sevastopol, Ukraine. (Shutterstock/Alex Zabusik)
Kiev, Ukraine, 19 December 2013. The central street of the city lined with tents during the EuroMaidan protests. (Shutterstock/Zysko Sergii)
Thousands flock together on the Maidan Square, Kiev, 19 January 2014. (Shutterstock)
Viktor Yanukovych, President of Ukraine, at a press conference on 11 March 2014 at Rostov-on-Don, Russia. (Shutterstock/Oleg Pchelov)
Protests against President Yanukovych in Kiev turn violent, January 2014. (Shutterstock/Lena Osokina)
Russian soldiers marching in Perevalne, Crimea, on 5 March 2014. Russian military forces invaded the Crimean Peninsula on 28 February. (Shutterstock/photo.ua)
Proclamation of the Donetsk People’s Republic, 7 April 2014. (Shutterstock/Govorov Evgeny)
Igor Strelkov (Girkin) and Alexander Borodai at a press conference on 10 July 2014. (Shutterstock/Denis Kornilov)
Smoke plumes from MH17 after it was shot down over Donetsk on 17 July 2014. (Shutterstock/gaponoffsound)
Wreckage near Rozsypne. (Shutterstock/Denis Kornilov)
Flowers outside the Netherlands embassy, Kiev, 18 July 2014. (Shutterstock/Dragunov)
Frans Timmermans, the Dutch foreign minister rushes to Kiev. (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Australian foreign minister, Julie Bishop, at a press conference shortly after MH17 was downed. (Shutterstock/ausnewde)
Wreckage from MH17. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott immediately after he accused Russia of being involved in the downing of MH17. (Shutterstock/Drop of Light)
One of the fighters guarding wreckage near Hrabove, 19 July 2014. (Shutterstock/Denis Kornilov)
Members of the repatriation mission hold a minute’s silence before entering the crash site. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Plane fragments in the Hrabove forest, 17 July 2014. (Shutterstock/Alexander Chizhenok)
Dutch and Australian forensic officers are finally allowed to search the crash site for remains. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Wreckage at one of crash sites. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Ukrainian military carry coffins to a waiting plane at Kharkiv. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
A military salute as the coffins arrive at Eindhoven Airport. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Coffins are carried to waiting hearses at Eindhoven Airport. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Members of the Royal Dutch Marechaussee escort the hearses carrying remains. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Sunflowers in front of Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam. (Shutterstock/TW van Urk)
The forensic repatriation mission was aborted at the beginning of August 2014 due to dangerous conditions on the ground. The team returned to the Netherlands. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Forensics at work at Korporaal van Oudheusden Barracks, Hilversum, the Netherlands. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Rubble laid out ready to be transported to the Netherlands. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
The first convoy carrying parts of the wreckage arrives at Gilze Rijen Airbase. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
Wreckage in a hangar at Gilze-Rijen airbase. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)
A monument to the victims of MH17 at Park Vijfhuizen, Schiphol Airport. (Marianne van Velzen)
The names of victims on the Park Vijfhuizen monument. (Marianne van Velzen)
The sunflower became a symbol for peace and remembrance of the victims of MH17. (Shutterstock/suncity)
MH17 technical and cabin crew in order of rank as supplied by MAS
CAPTAIN — WAN AMRAN BIN WAN HUSSIN — MALAYSIA
