This week's 10th anniversary of the shooting down of MH17 over Ukraine is an important milestone for a number of reasons.
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First and foremost, it is a time to reflect on the deliberate and barbaric act that cut short 298 lives. It is particularly poignant for this country given 38 of those killed when the civilian airliner was blown out of the sky by a surface-to-air missile fired by Russians and Ukrainian separatists were Australians.
That said, the event should not be defined by the nationality of some of those who died. Australians' hearts also go out to the families and friends of all who were lost; regardless of their race, religion, or creed. The victims came from 10 different countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Death knows no boundaries. As Kenneth Slessor wrote about the "unknown sailors" of his Beach Burial every human being ultimately goes "in search of the same landfall ... the sand joins them together, enlisted on the other front".
While we have a collective obligation to preserve the memories of the fallen it is even more important to remember that this tragedy was the result of a criminal act committed by callous individuals unlikely to ever be punished for the indiscriminate slaughter of innocents who had no idea that they were in harm's way.
While a trial in absentia found two Russians and one Ukrainian separatist guilty of firing the rocket that brought the Boeing 777 down in a field of sunflowers in Donetsk Oblaz, the murderers are unlikely to ever serve the life sentences imposed by the District Court of the Hague. As long as they remain in Russia they are beyond the reach of Western authorities.
The Netherlands took responsibility for the prosecutions because 193, or almost two-thirds, of those killed were Dutch.
This week's anniversary is also significant in that the attack on MH17 was the result of President Vladimir Putin's decision to annex Crimea, Donbas and other parts of Ukraine. While he did not fire the SAM that brought the plane to earth he is just as, if not even more, guilty as those who did.
Putin's desire to reverse the breakup of the USSR in the 1990s has defined his regime for almost two decades. A dictator in all but name, he is not interested in a return to communism. His overriding ambition is to reinstate the Russian empire.
That is why he launched a fresh assault on Ukraine almost two-and-a-half years ago. While that war has not gone the way he had hoped, Putin is now playing a waiting game. He is well aware that the West, with its revolving door of democratically elected leaders and short attention span, will eventually lose patience with what is turning into another "forever war".
When that day comes Kyiv will no longer be able to rely on its NATO allies, many of which are facing almost existential crises of their own, for the treasure it needs to defend itself; let alone to take the fight to the enemy.
If, as now appears highly likely, former president Donald Trump is elected in November that may happen sooner rather than later. Trump, who has a laser-like focus on domestic issues, is an isolationist at heart. He spent much of his first term extricating the US from conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan that had flared up under George W Bush and Barack Obama.
JD Vance, Trump's running mate, is on the record as saying America should be winding back its support for Ukraine and using its resources to address problems at home.
While Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has every reason to be concerned about recent events in the US, Putin, along with his buddies in the anti-Western bloc centred on Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, will be rubbing their hands with glee.
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