RIA Novosti in a note under the heading "The Hague Court Called the Conflict in Ukraine Non-International" reports :
“We are talking about a non-international armed conflict,” said Hendrik Steenhuis, Judge of the District Court of The Hague, announcing the decision in the case of the crash of flight MH17.
The court ruled that it was a non-international armed conflict in Ukraine.”
In fact, the court explicitly recognized the international nature of the conflict, but noted that the defendants were not entitled to the immunity granted to soldiers of the belligerents. The portal of the Dutch courts De Rechtspraak (“Judiciary”) in the informational message “Life sentences in the criminal case MH17” writes :
“The court found that since April 2014 there had been an armed conflict between the Ukrainian army and separatist formations. One of these groups fought under the name of the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR).
Many indications suggest that since mid-May 2014 the DPR has been effectively controlled by the Russian Federation. As a result, the Russian Federation became so involved in the conflict with Ukraine that it became an international conflict. In an international conflict, the use of weapons may be permitted under certain circumstances. Soldiers from belligerent countries may invoke immunity (combatant immunity) and not be prosecuted. But because the Russian Federation and the suspects deny Russian involvement to this day, the DNR fighters cannot be seen as part of the Russian military. In this case, they cannot be granted immunity from prosecution.”