On July 17, 2014, the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-17, a commercial plane flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, shocked the world. The crash claimed the lives of all 298 passengers and crew, including 80 children. It marked a significant escalation in Russia’s war against Ukraine that had been unfolding since early 2014. However, this tragic incident was just one of many in a turbulent year that also saw Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its covert invasion of Ukraine's Donbas region