Amsterdam -Dutch prosecutors and investigators, probing the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine, said they have turned their attention to the rocket parts found at MH17 crash site.
They said on Tuesday in Amsterdam that their new focus of investigation was on the fragments they suspected could be from a Russian-made Buk missile.
They said the alleged rocket fragments had been in their possession for a while now, but closer examinations were only beginning.
The Dutch prosecutors and investigators said the goal now, was to see if the fragments could determine which parties were behind the presumed rocket launch.
Meanwhile, Dutch authorities have requested that Russia provide them with access to the maker of Buk missiles to help the investigation.
They said in spite of the request Russia had not responded to the request.
Investigators have long said it was most likely that the Boeing 777 was shot down with a missile over eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have waged a hot-and-cold war with Ukrainian forces for more than a year.
The crashed aeroplane, enroute from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was carrying 298 people at the time of the July 17, 2014 crash.
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The Netherlands has taken the lead on the investigation, since the bulk of the dead were Dutch nationals.
Ukrainian and Western officials suspected that Russian-backed separatists used a Russian-made missile system to shoot down the airliner.
However, Russian federal investigators have alleged that the airliner was shotdown by the Ukrainian military. (dpa/NAN)