Ukrainian security services have confirmed the driver of a truck that transported the missile which shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has been in jail since 2017.

MH17 was flying from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam in the Netherlands on 17 July 2014, when it was shot down in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on-board were killed.

An official from Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) Vitaly Mayakov told reporters at a press conference that the service had tracked down a man from Donestk, who was approached by separatists and asked to tow the missile.

Mr Mayakov, who is part of the SBU's Chief Investigative Department, said the man had been in prison since 2017 and is now serving a sentence.

He did not, however, name the driver or explain why the information had not been released earlier.


"We have determined the individual from among the fighters who brought it on the vehicle to Donetsk," Mr Mayakov told a news conference.

"We detained him, he is now serving a sentence here, in Ukraine."

Image: Commemorations have taken place in Kuala Lumpur

The official said more than 150 people that were involved in the transportation of the missile to and from Ukraine have been identified.

MH17 was shot during a war between Russian-backed rebels and Ukranian forces, fighting which killed 13,000 people.

The latest development comes as commemorations took place in Malaysia and the Netherlands to remember the 298 people who died on-board the flight five years ago today.

In the Netherlands, more than a thousand people attended a memorial service near Schipol Airport, where trees were planted for each victim.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the shooting down of MH17 "a shameful deed that robbed 298 innocent people of their lives".

Ten British nationals were among the dead.