MH17 murder trial: The investigation, the lives lost, everything you need to know

The Boeing 777 was carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew as they travelled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014.

The plane was hit, prosecutors say, by a Russian surface to air missile, and it killed everyone on board and left wreckage strewn across an active war zone below.

Access to the crash site for recovery and investigation was difficult, requiring daily negotiation from multiple countries and agencies.

In June, 2019, four men - three Russians and one Ukrainian - were charged with murder and the destruction of a civilian airliner.

Their murder trial began in March 2020 in the Netherlands, and on Thursday, November 17 the verdict for the men accused of involvement in the downing of MH17 will be read.

Dozens of next-of-kin have travelled to the Hague for the verdict and they will be joined by Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers who were involved with the investigation.

There were 38 Australian citizens and residents on board, along with people from the Netherlands, Malaysia, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, The Philippines, Canada and New Zealand.

The youngest Australians to die were eight-year-olds Margaux Van Den Hende who was from Melbourne and Otis Maslin from Western Australia.

Margaux was on the flight with her siblings Piers, 15, and Marnix, 12, and their parents Shaliza Dewa and Johannes van den Hende.

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Otis was on the flight with his siblings Mo, 12, and Evie, 10, and their grandfather Nick Norris. In a twist of fate, the children's parents Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris stayed in Europe a few extra days, while their children flew back home with their grandfather so they could go back to school.

All Australian citizens and residents on the flight were identified. The 38th Australian was identified on December 5, 2014.

Only two of the 298 victims are yet to be identified. Both are Dutch.

The AFP established Operation AREW that sought to bring all the victims home to their families and have the perpetrators brought to justice.

In the weeks after the MH17 downing, a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was established. The AFP is a founding member and the JIT comprises the Netherlands, Australia, Ukraine, Belgium and Malaysia.

AFP forensic specialists helped determine a 9M38 series 'BUK' surface to air missile had been used in the incident.

In May, 2018, the JIT said the BUK missile used to down MH17 belonged to the 53rd Brigade of the Russian Army, and it was launched from a location in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian fighters.

Four men are on trial - three Russians Oleg Pulatov, Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinsky, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.

They have been charged under the Dutch Criminal Code with murder and the destruction of a civilian airliner.

None of the defendants have been detained, arrested or have appeared in court.

Lawyers for Pulatov, the only defendant who chose to take part in the proceedings through counsel, have argued the trial was unfair, and prosecutors did not properly examine alternative theories about the cause of the crash or the involvement of Pulatov.

Although Pulatov is at large, under Dutch law he is not considered to be tried in absentia, because he is represented by lawyers.

Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko are being tried in absentia.

The Dutch legal system operates under a civil law model. Criminal proceedings are 'inquisitorial' in nature and judges play a more active role than in Australia's 'adversarial' system. That includes directing investigations and questioning witnesses.

The trials are being heard before three judges, but no jury.

Judges will begin reading the verdict at 1.30pm on Thursday (11.30pm AEDT) at the high-security court next to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

In March this year, Australia and the Netherlands initiated legal proceedings in the International Civil Aviation Organization against Russia for its role in the downing of MH17.

The countries maintain Russia should be held accountable under article 3bis of the Chicago Convention, which decrees that states "must refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight".

There are several other ongoing legal proceedings that were instituted by states or individuals within the European Court of Human Rights, International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.

These processes are expected to continue regardless of the outcome of the ICAO application or the criminal trial.

With Australian Associated Press