Caught in the Crossfire: The horror of flight MH17 and the shocking war that caused the plane to be shot down.
On 17th July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was blown out of the sky over Ukraine, killing 298 people. The attack on the aircraft sent shockwaves around the globe, with leaders in Europe and Australia vowing to bring the bodies home and the killers to justice.
In this program reporter Stephen Long travels to Europe and Ukraine to tell the stories of families who lost their loved ones in the crash - and people whose lives have been devastated by the dirty war in Ukraine. His report paints a stark picture of the conflict and the tactics used by both sides to gain an advantage.
In Europe, Long finds families caught in a cycle of grief, their leaders scrambling to react to the attack. In Ukraine, he meets with families who have lost their homes as their neighbourhood is over-run by Russian-backed militia. In broader terms, he shows how Ukraine has become the fault line in a power struggle between Russia and Europe.
The report highlights the fact that despite sanctions being imposed by the West, the economic dependence of Europe on Russia has hopelessly compromised any real attempt to find and punish the killers.
The tragedy has also led many to reconsider the strategic future of Europe, with one former top general warning that Russia should never be allowed to hold his country to ransom.
