On the evening of July 17, 2014, Bryan Clancy was listening to ABC radio as he dozed off to sleep.

"That's not good," he thought after hearing a news item that a plane had been shot down over Ukraine.

Not until he woke the next morning did the panic begin to set in.

"We searched and searched for the itinerary," Mr Clancy recounted of the moment he began to realise his brother, Michael, and his sister-in-law, Carol, may have been on the plane.

He rang his younger sister, Ruth, who lived in Newcastle, and confirmed there had only been one plane that had left Amsterdam to Malaysia the day before and Michael and Carol were onboard.

The Clancys had been on a European holiday to celebrate their retirement when they died on board the MH17 plane in 2014. ( Supplied: Clancy family )

Bryan's wife, Lisa, was the one to tell Michael's 82-year-old mother.

"She said 'Hello, Lisa what are you doing here?' with a big smile," Lisa recalled.

"I will never forget the look on her face, it was just awful, it was the worst thing in the world to have to tell her that."

Almost six years since MH17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine, the Clancys have arrived in Amsterdam at the start of a journey for justice.

A long-awaited trial

The Clancys say their "pain still continues regardless of what happens at the trial". ( ABC News: Andrew Scully )

At a highly secured court near Schiphol airport where MH17 took off, four men will be tried for the murder of Michael and Carol Clancy and 296 other victims on the ill-fated flight.

But as the three judges preside over the trial, there will be an empty dock.

The four accused — three Russians and one Ukrainian — will be tried in absentia.

The Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down over Ukraine killing all 298 people on board, including 38 residents of Australia. ( Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev )

They are Russians Igor "Strelkov" Girkin, Oleg Pulatov and Sergic Dubinsky, as well as Ukranian Leonid Kharchenko.

Only one of the men will have legal representation in the court, although the Dutch are yet to confirm who.

'There's an anger there'

Bryan and Lisa Clancy had mixed emotions at the MH17 memorial. ( ABC News: Tim Stevens )

Bryan and Lisa's first visit to the MH17 memorial park near Amsterdam's airport did not bring the couple any peace.

There, 298 immature, winter-bare trees stand to represent each life lost.

As planes land in the background into a bitterly cold wind, Bryan and Lisa find the trees marked with Michael and Carol Clancy's names and place flowers below them.

"It's not the place that I would like to end up or be remembered, it's quite bleak here," Mr Clancy told the ABC, noting both trees have had to be replanted three times.

Investigators rebuilt the front end of Malaysia Flight 17 in a Dutch hangar from 8,000 fragments recovered from the crash site. ( Supplied: Dutch Safety Board )

"There's an anger there too," he said of the emotions he was feeling to be at the site.

"All these trees here, every one of them, is just recognising individuals who have been killed, wiped out in an instant."

The Clancy family never had the remains of their loved ones returned.

"We never got Mick back, we didn't get Carol back, we had a funeral, but it was a mock funeral," he said.

Holding Russia responsible

Russia has always denied involvement in the downing of MH17, but Australia and the Netherlands hold Russia legally responsible.

Four Russian-backed separatists have been charged over the MH17 disaster, but they are not expected to appear at the trial. ( Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev )

The Clancys say they are disappointed the Australian Government hasn't followed the Dutch lead and joined a lawsuit against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Almost 400 individuals, including 17 Australian families, are part of those parallel proceedings.

"We have a Government that is not fully supporting the Dutch," Mr Clancy said.

"Our Government hasn't involved itself in supporting the European court case, it's just in the criminal court they are supporting the Dutch."

The criminal proceedings could take years to complete, with the prosecution warning it could take between two and six years if there are unforeseen challenges.

'We will never have closure'

Bryan Clancy (left) with his brother Michael, his sister-in-law Carol and their mum Joy. ( Supplied: Clancy family )

Standing by the memorial trees, Lisa spoke of a daily pain since the downing of MH17.

"We will never get closure. Never ever, ever will we have closure," she said.

"They're not coming back — our pain still continues regardless of what happens at the trial."

The Clancy family hope to deliver a victim impact statement before the court this week.