Grieving Father of Malaysia Airlines Victim Lashes Out at Vladimir Putin in Open Letter

By Sandra Sobieraj Westfall

07/22/2014 at 12:10 PM EDT

Hans and daughter Elsemiek de Borst

Courtesy Hans de Borst/Facebook

A Dutch father who lost his only child in the missile attack on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 posted an emotional open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, holding him responsible for the Russian-backed separatists who, officials say, brought down the commercial passenger jet on July 17.

"Thank you very much Mister Putin, leaders of the separatists or the Ukraine government for murdering my loved and only child, Elsemiek de Borst," Hans de Borst wrote on Facebook, in a post subsequently translated from the Dutch by Lennart Peeters. His letter was also published by the Hart Van Nederland newspaper on Monday.

The girl, 17, was traveling aboard the Boeing 777 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a vacation with her little brother, mother and stepfather.

"Elsemiek would have done her final school exams next year, together with her best friends Julia and Marina. She did so well in school! After that, she wanted to go to the [technical university] Delft to study engineering. She was looking forward to it. She is suddenly no more," de Borst wrote.

"Aforementioned misters, I hope you're proud to have shot her young life upside down and you will be able to look at yourselves in the mirror tomorrow morning."

He signed the aching, angry letter, "Elsemiek's father… whose life is ruined."