I’m Dutch, here’s what I felt when Russia killed my people

July 17th, 2014 was a typical Dutch summer day.  I was running some errands and agreed to drive my sister to the hospital. I had just parked my car and dropped her off before turning on the radio. The news was on, with the anchor talking about a civilian plane that departed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and was flying over Ukraine when they had lost contact with it. 

I stopped for a second and listened. You have to understand that, at that time, people weren’t immediately sure what had just transpired. However, the feeling of fear was already in the air as most Dutch people had been aware of Russia’s war in Eastern Ukraine. 

I was among them, and I remember the feeling of anxiety I had the moment I heard the news. It’s one of those rare days in life that you don’t forget and remember every little detail of it. 

We waited for more information until the worst-case scenario was finally confirmed. The plane crashed, and people were dead. Hundreds of them. All lay in an open-air field alongside the remains of the plane and other objects. 

It took people just seconds for the tragedy to sink in. The entire country was talking about it, with TV screens showing the faces of politicians and journalists trying to grapple with what had just happened and, most importantly, why.

I was among them. And the thought that visited me the most that day was the death scene. Not the consequences, but the feeling of fear that engulfed the passengers once the missile had hit the airplane and life was no longer an option. My mind was going through those events, imagining the horror the passengers felt when it all happened. 

Hundreds of my fellow citizens were on that plane, as well as other innocent people from different parts of the world, which Russia had taken away for no reason.

It simply ordered to push the button, and the order was quickly executed. 

Even though I was not affected by the event or had lost a loved one, I think about what happened this day. Especially the heartbreaking scene of toys found on the crash site, indicating that children were onboard. 

It took some time for the forensics to collect the remains of the people.

Once they’d been identified and transported back to the Netherlands, they were taken from the airport and carried by a very long line of hearse cars. Long black funeral cars were driving down the highway through the country, and people took photos and clips of this solemn homage to the victims of Russian aggressive whims.

Soldiers were saluting, others were silent or crying. It was a tremendously powerful image. I believe that this particular scene is still inside the heads of many Dutch people like myself who don’t understand why this happened and why innocent people were ordered to be killed by a country that the Netherlands wasn’t even at war with. 

Unlike for Ukrainians, for the Dutch, this is just a memory – though a harrowing one.

In Ukraine, which has become my second home, it is an everyday reality. 

Just think of what happened less than two weeks ago when Russia destroyed a children’s hospital in Kyiv, killing kids who underwent cancer treatment. And those who wanted to save their lives. 

The crash site scenes that all of the Netherlands saw back in 2014 have become nothing but a set of daily pictures in Ukraine. They sent shockwaves around the world before being replaced with new shots of war crimes committed by Russia. 

We cannot let this happen. Though ten years passed, I still remember the awful, nauseous feeling I had when I found out that Russia killed my people. Though the Dutch court identified the perpetrators of that crime and found them guilty of this heinous crime, justice has yet to be served. 

Russia continues to deny responsibility for this act, inflicting pain on thousands of Ukrainians who have lost their loved ones in Russia’s war of aggression.

I don’t want others to feel such terrible emotions, let alone experience them firsthand.

The Netherlands, together with the Allies, must continue to help Ukraine. We do a lot, but we need to do more. The aid given to Ukraine covers only some of the urgent needs, and it’s nearly not enough to protect the civilians or the country from being destroyed and subjugated. 

Nobody should have to live with memories of thoughts of the horrifying deaths that innocent people endure like I do alongside millions of the Dutch and Ukrainians. 

We can stop it by allowing Ukraine not just to defend itself but to win this war and defeat Russia.