First anniversary of the MH17 air disaster July 17,2014 - July 17,2015

Memorial services are being held to mark the first anniversary of the MH17 air disaster, in which 298 people died.

Villagers close to the crash site in Ukraine are holding a ceremony, as will the Netherlands from where most of the passengers were from.

Australia has already held its memorial for the 39 citizens it lost.

A boy waves a flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic at a memorial to the victims of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 plane crash at the crash site near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, July 16, 2015

Next of kin, relatives and friends of victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 tragedy gathered at the Bunga Raya Complex of KL International Airport today for a memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the tragedy - See more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/07/11/mh17-families-gather-for-memorial-service/#sthash.8agLjtoM.dpuf

An Orthodox cross with a sign reading Save and Guard is placed at the site of the crashed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plane, near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, July 16, 2015.

Family members of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 victims pause for a moment of silence during a memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the MH17 tragedy, at the Bunga Raya complex at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang t - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/as-first-anniversary-looms-mh17-families-demand-justice#sthash.EEEmnQqK.dpuf

Next of kin, relatives and friends of victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 tragedy gathered at the Bunga Raya Complex of KL International Airport today for a memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the tragedy - See more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/07/11/mh17-families-gather-for-memorial-service/#sthash.8agLjtoM.dpuf

Note

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur  that crashed on  July 17,2014 after being shot down, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board

MH17 lost contact about 50 km (31 mi) from the Ukraine–Russia border and crashed near Torez in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, 40 km (25 mi) from the border.


Russian-backed rebels are widely believed to have shot down the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

However,Russia denies this, blaming Ukrainian government forces for the disaster in the eastern Donetsk region.

The crash occurred during the Battle in Shakhtarsk Raion, part of the ongoing war in Donbass, in an area controlled by the Donbass People's Militia

According to American and German intelligence sources, the plane was shot down by pro-Russian insurgents using a Buk Surface to Air Missile fired from the territory which they controlled

The Dutch Safety Board is currently leading an investigation into the incident and issued a preliminary report on 9 September 2014; a final accident report is expected in October 2015