"The largest bank in russia facilitated money transfers to militants of the self-proclaimed 'Donetsk People's Republic' and, therefore, can be considered an accomplice to terrorists. As a result, its status as a state bank does not grant it sovereign immunity, the court ruled. This decision allows the family of an American citizen who died in the Malaysia Airlines plane crash over Donbas in 2014 to pursue legal action against russia's largest bank", - DW Главное reported on February 5.
It is noted that the lawsuit against Sberbank was filed in April 2019 by the family of Quinn Schansman, who was 18 years old at the time of his death. He was a passenger on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. His relatives accused the bank of using the U.S. banking system to transfer donations to the militants of the so-called "DNR", which was created in 2014 by pro-russian separatists.
Sberbank of russia contested the lawsuit, claiming that as a state organization, it should not be subject to legal proceedings in other countries. However, judges of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected this argument.