London: The criminal investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has pinpointed the exact launch site of the missile that brought it down, a source close to the investigation says.
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The Joint Investigation Team, including experts from Australia, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, has gathered evidence of the launch site of a standard that could be presented in a potential criminal trial.
The results of their investigation will be made public next Tuesday, first of all to the families and loved ones of the 298 people killed in the July 2014 crash, then in a media conference.
The investigators are also expected to identify the weapon used to shoot down the plane - however they are not expected to identify who launched the missile.
The investigation into the perpetrators is still continuing, and that evidence will likely be kept in reserve for a potential criminal trial.
Leaders and foreign ministers from countries including Australia will discuss the potential for such a trial in the wings of the United Nations general assembly this week.
A move for official UN action against the perpetrators faces the threat of a Russian veto in the Security Council.
However countries including the UK and Australia have already discussed other jurisdictions that might be used to bring the accused parties to trial.
Last year an air safety investigation found that flight MH17 crashed on July 17, 2014, after it was hit by a Russian-made Buk surface to air missile.
All 283 passengers and 15 crew members were killed. The dead included 38 Australian citizens or residents.
The Dutch Safety Board report used computer simulations and forensic analysis of the plane wreckage to conclude that a Buk warhead detonated outside the aircraft, slightly in front of and above the left side of the cockpit.
Thousands of metal fragments penetrated the plane, which broke up in mid-air.
The DSB narrowed the missile launch site to a 320 square kilometre area in eastern Ukraine, but said further work to narrow this area was beyond the safety board's mandate.
Russia challenged the DSB report on several grounds, claiming that the damage pattern on the plane was not consistent with the type of missile the DSB described.
However the DSB dismissed the Russian analysis and confirmed its initial conclusions.
A source from the criminal investigation team, which worked separately to the DSB, said their result would be similar to the DSB's, but "more precise".
"This is evidence that is meant to be brought before a court," they said. "It is more precise with the exact location from where the missile was launched."
The Joint Investigation Team consists of investigators from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
Open-source investigators Bellingcat have worked independently of the JIT to identify responsibility for the crash of MH17.
They concluded the missile was fired from a Buk launcher that entered eastern Ukraine in late June 2014 from Russia. The missile that destroyed MH17 was fired from a field south of the town of Snizhne.
Bellingcat also claim that Russia has released "fake" evidence including doctored satellite images to try to shift blame for the crash.
