TEHRAN – The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ruled that Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) was negligent in its operation of Flight PS752 and is solely responsible for compensating the families of the victims killed when the flight was accidentally downed by Iran’s military. 

The court found that UIA failed to properly assess the risks of operating the flight out of Tehran at a time when tensions between Iran and the United States were rapidly escalating. The court heard evidence that UIA had been aware of the heightened tensions, including the fact that Iran had previously shot down a U.S. drone and that U.S. forces had assassinated a top Iranian general just days before the downing of Flight PS752.

Despite being aware of these risks, the court found that UIA failed to take reasonable steps to mitigate them. The court heard evidence that UIA had considered rerouting or canceling the flight but ultimately decided to operate it as scheduled.

Flight PS752 crashed after being hit by two missiles fired by the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) on January 8, 2020, shortly after it took off to head to Kyiv. The incident happened only hours after Iran launched a series of missiles at an American base in Iraq in response to Washington’s assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani on January 3. All the 176 people onboard lost their lives.

Western states have poured significant efforts into capitalizing on the tragedy, accusing Iran of intentionally shooting down the Ukrainian plane. They have so far failed to find any evidence to support their claims and have consistently refused to address questions about why Iran would undermine its earlier successful attack on a key U.S. base in Iraq by harming its own citizens.

The Western accusations have been used to justify sanctions against Iran and to isolate the country diplomatically, which ultimately hurts ordinary citizens in the country.

Tehran has said the Ukrainian plane was downed accidentally by the operator of a surface-to-air-missile system soon after Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes, which put the country’s military on the highest state of defensive alert as well as preparedness for a full-fledged war.

The country has so far issued sentences for 10 people involved in the incident and set compensation of $150,000 for each of the families of the victims. Reports show the payments began in 2022.