World awaits answers on MH17 crash tonight but few expect party who fired suspected missile will be named

The Dutch Safety Board, issuing long-awaited findings on Tuesday of its investigation into the crash of a Malaysian passenger plane over eastern Ukraine, is expected to say it was downed by a Russian-made Buk missile but not say who was responsible for firing it.

Respected Dutch newspaper, the Volkskrant, has quoted three sources it said were close to the investigation which disclosed the cause of the crash. 

They said the plane was hit by a BUK missile fired from the ground as the plane flew over Russian-backed rebel territory, the newspaper stated.

Crucially, the report states that the missile couldn't have been fired by rebel troops as they lacked the required skills, according to sources quoted by the newspaper. 

MH17 was shot down over territory held by pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people aboard, most of them Dutch citizens.

Experts and Western governments believe rebels shot down the aircraft, possibly mistaking it for a Ukrainian military plane. Moscow has offered alternative theories, including that it might have been shot down by a Ukrainian fighter, or by Ukrainian forces.