The Daily Star's FREE newsletter is spectacular! Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inbox Sign up today! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

(Image: GETTY)

Ten Brits died in the disaster over rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine last year.

The report, published by the Dutch Safety Board (DSB), concluded the plane was shot down by a Russian-made Buk missile.

The report said: "It cannot be ruled out that some occupants remained conscious for some time during the one to one–and–a–half minutes for which the crash lasted."

Relatives had been told by the DSB in The Hague earlier that loved-ones would have died very soon after the missile hit the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur flight.

The report comes as the European Union's aviation regulator issued a safety bulletin warning airlines to consider redirecting routes away from long-range Russian missiles in the Caspian Sea.

A barrage of missiles have been fired in recent weeks towards Syria nearly 1,000 miles away.

(Image: GETTY)

Barry Sweeney, whose son Liam died in the crash, had said it was a relief that passengers probably did not suffer before the report was made available to the media.

He told the BBC: "We can't be 100% certain but we think that this was the case. We have to think they didn't suffer".

But it was later confirmed that passengers may have been alive for 90 seconds after the missile hit.

A criminal report will be released next year which is likely to indicate who was to blame for the disaster which killed 298 people.

Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told how Russia was upset its side of the story was not being heard.

Mr Peskov said: "There are facts delivered by the Russia side that for unclear reasons are being apparently ignored.

"[Russia has] repeatedly expressed its disappoinment over the lack of proper level of cooperation and engagement of the Russian experts into the investigation."

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS)

A Russian state-controlled missile maker said its own investigation disagreed with the DSB findings.

Yan Novikov, head of Almaz-Antey, gave a news conference, but did not specify what was in the report, and he did not say whether he had been given an advance look.

The DSB has focused on what caused the crash and the issue of flying over areas of conflict.

It also examined why Dutch relatives had to wait for up to four days for confirmation that their loved ones had died, and to what extent the passengers were conscious before the plane hit the ground.

The investigation was led by Holland because 196 of the victims were Dutch.