The board will publish its final report on Tuesday. A Ukrainian police officer searches the crash site of flight MH17. Credit:Brendan Hoffman The Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down over the Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile said to have been obtained by pro-Russian insurgents on July 17, 2014, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. Mr Skinner said: "Investigators in The Hague said, 'You can blame this on anything you want to blame it on, but once you walk in the hangar and you look at what we have assembled, it's obvious what weapon it was, where it came from, whose it was and what happened. "It's as plain as the nose on your face. You cannot deny how this happened."

He said they had reconstructed the nose as far back as the galley behind the cockpit. "It is peppered above and through the cockpit area with external entry holes from shrapnel of various sizes but predominantly two-and-a-half to three inches [63mm–76mm]. "The Buk missile [Russian surface-to-air missile] is designed for the warhead to break up into pieces of that size and it tries to destroy the command and control centre of whatever vehicle it is locked onto. ''The investigator's words are, 'You look at it and you know what's hit this, because there's only one weapon that does that'." Mr Skinner said he believed the investigators would indicate they didn't get a lot of co-operation from Russia and that they were going to be very hard on the Russians in the report.

He said they told him the Russians never visited the reconstruction because they believed once the Russians saw it they would no longer have the ability to make the excuse that it was some weapon other than the surface-to-air missile. He said the investigators agreed to the briefing to support his proposal for the Dutch government to pursue the possibility of a private government joint effort to hold the Russians accountable. Mr Skinner said the Australian government had been "spectacularly unresponsive". The release of the report will only heighten pressure on legal proceedings that need to be initiated within two years of the aircraft's loss. Mr Skinner, who negotiated settlements for families of the Lockerbie disaster, said he had advised clients not to sign a new letter from Malaysia Airlines, which has been seen by Fairfax Media.

Dated October 5, it offers them a share of a 10 million ringgit fund ($3.3 million) established by Petronas, Malaysia's state energy company, with a deadline to sign by October 15. If the size of the fund has remained unchanged, the Sydney lawyers say it would equate to about $10,000 a family – about the cost of a business class return flight to London. "Of course, Petronas is concerned with the health of Malaysia Airlines because they supply fuel for most of their flights originating in Malaysia," Mr Skinner said. "This was set up a year ago but for whatever reason they notified clients they could claim this donation now, a week before the investigator's report. "It's the dirtiest thing I have seen yet. The families could be asked to pay the money back to Malaysia Airlines, because there is an indemnity clause which means they agree to insure the airline against further claims by others.

"Instead of offering anybody anything that approaches full damages, they are offering a year-and-a-half-old donation and trying to take advantage of the situation." Comment has been sought from the airline, but was not received by deadline. ADDENDUM: Subsequent to publication, the following response was received from Malaysia Airlines: "The "Care for MH17 Fund" is wholly unrelated to any possible compensation payments by (Malaysia Airlines) to next of kin. "The "Care for MH17 Fund" initiated by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), comprises seeding fund from PETRONAS and contributions from the public (organisations and individuals).

"Malaysia Airlines was requested on behalf of PETRONAS to inform the next of kin of the passengers and crew of flight MH17 of the establishment and distribution of the fund ... "If taken up, the contribution will not be deducted from compensation payments made to legal next of kin, as determined by applicable laws."