A Dutch-led criminal investigation into the loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 has said the aircraft was downed by a missile brought in from Russia and fired from territory held by Moscow-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

A team of international investigators has been gathering evidence in an attempt to identify those responsible for the act that killed all 298 people aboard the Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The findings of the Joint Investigation Team, which includes Australian, Belgium and Malaysian prosecutors, follow the publication last year of a report by Dutch air accident investigators that concluded the jet was brought down by a missile fired by a sophisticated Russian-made Buk surface-to-air system. That report did not apportion blame.