You're reading: The Australian: Dear Mr President. Family asks Russia for answers over MH17

One wonders what Russian ­diplomat Eduard Shakirov thought when he saw the woman standing alone outside the iron gates of his embassy in Canberra, calling to be let in. The first secretary walked towards the stranger until he could see her clearly through the white metal bars protecting the fortified compound. “My name is Meryn O’Brien,” she said. “My son Jack was killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine and I want to speak with someone about it. He was 25 years old.”

Shakirov opened the gate and ushered her into a dark entrance room where he was joined by another diplomat, a woman. The Russians stared in silence at their unexpected guest. It was then that Meryn began to panic. She hadn’t planned to storm the Russian embassy that day, the first anniversary of the death of her only son. Moments earlier, she had been in a hotel room with her ­husband Jon and daughter Bronwyn, preparing to return to Sydney after attending the 12-month commemoration of the loss of 298 people aboard MH17, including 38 Australians, on July 17, 2014. But as she was packing, a tide of anger washed over her. It swept her downstairs, where she asked for directions to the Russian embassy.

Read the full story here.