About 200 forensic experts from around the world are identifying the MH17 bodies at a military barracks in a Dutch forest.

Today's memorial service for Malaysia Airlines victim Rob Ayley will be held at the same church where he regularly played the drums.

A Dutch-led investigation team including 11 Australian police officers has had to abandon a plan to visit the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine due to safety concerns.

Vladimir Putin is facing a multimillion-dollar legal action for his alleged role in the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over eastern Ukraine.

The family of Rob Ayley, who was killed on flight MH17, will hold a private memorial tomorrow while they wait for his body to be returned.

The United States says it has evidence that Russia is planning to deliver "heavier and more powerful" rocket launchers to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The Perth-based parents of a woman believed to be an MH17 crash victim are on their way to the Ukrainian crash site, still believing she's alive.

After two tragic incidents within months involving Malaysia Airlines, hundreds of Kiwis have gained refunds for flights with the company.

The Dutch military plane that will transport the bodies of those who died on MH17 has landed in the Ukraine city of Kharkiv.

Australian officials are set to start the grim task of identifying the victims of the MH17 crash, backed by a UN Security Council resolution endorsing full international co-operation.

A senior Russian officer has claimed that a Ukrainian military jet was flying just a few kilometres from the Malaysian Airlines plane minutes before it was downed.

A train is the makeshift morgue housing nearly 200 bodies collected from the crash site of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has started the sensitive task of contacting the families of the 37 Australian citizens and residents killed in the MH17 disaster.

The father of three Australian children killed on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has taken indefinite leave from his job as head of Buxton Resources.

A New Zealand diplomat from Moscow has been sent to Kiev to monitor an investigation into the Malaysia Air disaster, Prime Minister John Key says.

192 bodies found after MH17 crashed to the ground have been bundled into black body bags and loaded into large refrigerated train cars, bound for the rebel heartland.

John Key says he is "deeply concerned" by the lack of access to the MH17 crash site and has called on Vladimir Putin to show leadership on the issue.

A Dutch couple coming to New Zealand to visit their Taupo-based daughter on a "trip of a lifetime" were among those killed on MH17.

A popular former Auckland and Queenstown restaurateur was on board the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

The sole New Zealand citizen on board the ill-fated MH17 flight has been remembered as a "warm, creative and generous" person.

In the case of MH17, the political instability between Ukraine and Russia could hamper operations.

The downing of the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane has exposed the chaos in Ukraine as a real war.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says New Zealand has used a special sitting of the UN Security Council to call for a full investigation into the crash of flight MH17.

Evidence is mounting that pro-Russian separatists were responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

An Australian family has been hit by both Malaysia Airlines tragedies.

Two Newcastle United fans on their way to New Zealand to see their football team's pre-season games were among the victims of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

A single image proved especially poignant; a passenger’s travel book and holiday novel strewn on the grass.

Auckland aviation expert Irene King says the "thugs" who shot down the Malaysian airliner will never get away with claiming they thought their target was military.