United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has said the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 may constitute a “war crime”.

The Boeing 777 aircraft came down on route from Amsterdam on July 17th with the loss of 298, mostly Dutch, lives.

Ukraine and Western governments believe pro-Russian rebels shot down the plane using a missile system supplied by Russia.

In turn, Moscow and the rebels have blamed Ukrainian forces for the plane crash.

Dutch investigators are still attempting to reach the crash site, with heavy fighting between rebels loyal to Russia and the Ukrainian army hampering their progress. 

Most of the bodies from the crash have been removed, many of them repatriated to the Netherlands.

“This violation of international law, given the prevailing circumstances, may amount to a war crime,” Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in Geneva.

“Every effort will be made to ensure that anyone committing serious violations of international law including war crimes will be brought to justice, no matter who they are,” Pillay added.