(CNN) A year after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine, Australian leaders have slammed harrowing video footage that appears to show Russian-speaking fighters rifling through the belongings of victims at the crash site.

The footage shows smoldering wreckage strewn across a grassy field. At one point, a man dressed in combat fatigues dumps clothes and other belongings out of a backpack.

In the background, voices can be heard speaking Russian, telling "civilians" to leave the area.

People talking off camera remark that the aircraft was a passenger plane carrying foreigners. One of them asks how it was allowed to fly through the area.

News Corp Australia reported that Russian-backed rebels filmed the footage using a camcorder.

CNN couldn't immediately verify whether the video is authentic or who the people in it are. But top government officials in Australia, 38 of whose citizens and residents were on the aircraft, spoke out about it.

News Corp Australia flagged the footage as new in its reports Friday, but it appears at least some may already have been in the public domain.

Minister: 'It is disgusting'

"It is disgusting to watch that video footage," Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop told CNN affiliate Sky News. "I can't verify the authenticity of it, but it is certainly consistent with all that we were told, the advice that we received 12 months ago, that Flight MH17 had been shot down by a missile in eastern Ukraine and that the pro-Russian separatists were involved."

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Multiple Western nations, as well as the Ukrainian government, have said they believe pro-Russian rebels operating in the region shot down the plane. Rebel leaders and the Russian government have repeatedly disputed the accusations.

The crash site was in an area of war-torn eastern Ukraine largely controlled by rebel groups.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the video "highlights the fact that this was an atrocity, it was in no way an accident. They may not have known that they were shooting down a civilian passenger plane, but they were deliberately shooting out of the sky what they knew was a large aircraft."

"We are confident that it was weaponry that came across the border from Russia, fired and then shortly thereafter -- once it was realized what had happened -- it went back into Russia," Abbott said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Chaos at crash site

Reports of people going through victims' belongings at the chaotic, unsecured MH17 crash site aren't new. Western and Ukrainian leaders criticized such acts last year.

Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 sits in a field at the crash site in Hrabove, Ukraine, on September 9, 2014. The Boeing 777 was shot down July 17, 2014, over Ukrainian territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists. All 298 people on board were killed. In an October 2015 report, Dutch investigators found the flight was shot down by a warhead that fit a Buk rocket, referring to Russian technology, Dutch Safety Board Chairman Tjibbe Joustra said. Hide Caption 1 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Australian and Dutch experts examine the area of the crash on August 3, 2014. Hide Caption 2 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A woman walks with her bicycle near the crash site on August 2, 2014. Hide Caption 3 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Police secure a refrigerated train loaded with bodies of passengers from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 as it arrives in a Kharkiv, Ukraine, factory on July 22, 2014. Hide Caption 4 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A pro-Russian rebel passes wreckage from the crashed jet near Hrabove on Monday, July 21, 2014. Hide Caption 5 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine – Wreckage from the jet lies in grass near Hrabove on July 21, 2014. Hide Caption 6 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A man covers his face with a rag as members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Dutch National Forensic Investigations Team inspect bodies in a refrigerated train near the crash site in eastern Ukraine on July 21, 2014. Hide Caption 7 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Emergency workers carry a victim's body in a bag at the crash site on July 21, 2014. Hide Caption 8 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A piece of the plane lies in the grass in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region on July 21, 2014. Hide Caption 9 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine An armed pro-Russian rebel stands guard next to a refrigerated train loaded with bodies in Torez, Ukraine, on Sunday, July 20, 2014. Hide Caption 10 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Ukrainian State Emergency Service employees sort through debris on July 20, 2014, as they work to locate the deceased. Hide Caption 11 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A woman covers her mouth with a piece of fabric July 20, 2014, to ward off smells from railway cars that reportedly contained passengers' bodies. Hide Caption 12 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Toys and flowers sit on the charred fuselage of the jet as a memorial on July 20, 2014. Hide Caption 13 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine People search a wheat field for remains in the area of the crash site on July 20, 2014. Hide Caption 14 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A woman walks among charred debris at the crash site on July 20, 2014. Hide Caption 15 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Emergency workers load the body of a victim onto a truck at the crash site on Saturday, July 19, 2014. Hide Caption 16 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Emergency workers carry the body of a victim at the crash site on July 19, 2014. Hide Caption 17 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A large piece of the main cabin is under guard at the crash site on July 19, 2014. Hide Caption 18 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Victims' bodies are placed by the side of the road on July 19, 2014, as recovery efforts continue at the crash site. International officials lament the lack of a secured perimeter. Hide Caption 19 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A man looks through the debris at the crash site on July 19, 2014. Hide Caption 20 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine An envelope bearing the Malaysia Airlines logo is seen at the crash site on July 19, 2014. Hide Caption 21 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Armed rebels walk past large pieces of the Boeing 777 on July 19, 2014. Hide Caption 22 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Ukrainian rescue workers walk through a wheat field with a stretcher as they collect the bodies of victims on July 19, 2014. Hide Caption 23 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A woman looks at wreckage on July 19, 2014. Hide Caption 24 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Pro-Russian rebels stand guard as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe delegation arrives at the crash site on Friday, July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 25 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A woman walks through the debris field on July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 26 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Pro-Russian rebels stand guard at the crash site. Hide Caption 27 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Wreckage from Flight 17 lies in a field in Shaktarsk, Ukraine, on July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 28 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A man covers a body with a plastic sheet near the crash site on July 18, 2014. The passengers and crew hailed from all over the world, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Germany and Canada. Hide Caption 29 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A diver searches for the jet's flight data recorders on July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 30 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Coal miners search the crash site. Hide Caption 31 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Wreckage from the Boeing 777 lies on the ground July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 32 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine People search for bodies of passengers on July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 33 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A woman walks past a body covered with a plastic sheet near the crash site July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 34 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Belongings of passengers lie in the grass on July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 35 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine People inspect the crash site on Thursday, July 17, 2014. Hide Caption 36 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine People walk amid the debris at the site of the crash. Hide Caption 37 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Debris smoulders in a field near the Russian border. Hide Caption 38 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Fire engines arrive at the crash site. Hide Caption 39 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A man stands next to wreckage. Hide Caption 40 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Debris from the crashed jet lies in a field in Ukraine. Hide Caption 41 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Family members of those aboard Flight 17 leave Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam, Netherlands. Hide Caption 42 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A large piece of the plane lies on the ground. Hide Caption 43 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Luggage from the flight sits in a field at the crash site. Hide Caption 44 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A couple walks to the location at Schiphol Airport where more information would be given regarding the flight. Hide Caption 45 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Flight arrivals are listed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia. Hide Caption 46 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Debris from the Boeing 777, pictured on July 17, 2014. Hide Caption 47 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A man inspects debris from the plane. Hide Caption 48 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Wreckage from the plane is seen on July 17, 2014. Hide Caption 49 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A man talks with security at Schiphol Airport on July 17, 2014. Hide Caption 50 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine Wreckage burns in Ukraine. Hide Caption 51 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A man stands next to the wreckage of the airliner. Hide Caption 52 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine People inspect a piece of wreckage believed to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. This image was posted to Twitter Hide Caption 53 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine People inspect a piece of wreckage believed to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. This image was posted to Twitter. Hide Caption 54 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A piece of wreckage believed to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. This image was posted to Twitter Hide Caption 55 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A piece of wreckage believed to be from MH17. This image was posted to Twitter Hide Caption 56 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine An airsickness bag believed to be from MH17. This image was posted to Twitter Hide Caption 57 of 58 Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine A piece of wreckage believed to be from MH17. This image was posted to Twitter Hide Caption 58 of 58

"The facts of looting, how the terrorists are dealing with the bodies, are beyond the moral boundaries," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, whose government is locked in a bitter conflict with the rebels, said at the time.

The reported interference with the wreckage and difficulties gaining access to the crash site have complicated the task of investigators seeking to establish what happened.

In one case highlighting the free-for-all at the site, a television reporter caused an uproar by rummaging through the contents of an open suitcase during a broadcast.

Video of the immediate aftermath of the disaster has also emerged previously , and unverified material has circulated online.

News Corp Australia said it had turned the video it published Friday over to international investigators this week. The Dutch Safety Board, which has been leading the investigation into the crash, declined to comment on the video when CNN contacted it.

Victims honored in Australia, the Netherlands

The coverage comes on a day when the victims, who came from all around the world, are being honored.

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In Australia, a ceremony was held in the Great Hall at Parliament House.

Commemorations also are taking place in the Netherlands, home to the majority of the people on board Flight 17. The plane, a Boeing 777, was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when it was shot down.

Poroshenko also paid respects to the victims and their relatives in a video message Friday.

"Today, our people recall this tragedy and share the grief and sorrow of the families who lost their loved ones," he said.