MH17 flight brought down by Russian missile, claims investigation

An investigation into the attack on Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 has found "conclusive evidence" that the missile originated in Russia, and was launched by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.

A total of 298 people were killed in the incident in July 2014, which occurred close to the border between Russia and Ukraine.

The Joint Investigation Team in Holland found that a Buk 9M38 missile was the cause of the Boeing 777's downfall. It was able to locate the area from which the missile was launched, and where it travelled from in Russia via Ukraine.

Russia have denied the findings of the investigation, which was carried out by independent analysts from Australia, Malaysia, Ukraine and Belgium.

Press spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that "the data are clear-cut [...] there is no rocket. If there was a rocket, it could only have been fired from elsewhere."

The flight was en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam two years ago when it was attacked and plunged from the sky.

Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed rebels were in conflict over territory at the time.

Families of the passengers and crew killed on board, who were mostly Dutch, have been putting pressure on authorities to come to a conclusion about the origin of the missile.