A new attempt by Russian state television to shift the blame for the MH17 tragedy has been exposed as a shoddy Photoshop fake by a group of citizen journalists who said the "evidence" had obvious flaws.

A report on Friday by Channel One Russia claimed to have unearthed a "sensational" satellite photo of the last seconds of flight MH17 over Ukraine. The photo appears to show a fighter jet over eastern Ukraine, firing a missile towards a commercial aircraft.

The publication came as President Vladmir Putin faced a cold reception from world leaders at global summit G20 in Brisbane.

"It's well know that at the summit in Brisbane, the Australian prime minister Abbott has threatened to confront our president about the Malaysian Boeing," said Leontyev. "Let's try to make his task a little easier."