A team of 80 police officers are still working full time on the Dutch investigation into the crash of MH17, which was brought down by a missile in July 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

Police chief Wilbert Paulissen told relatives of those who died at a closed meeting on Monday that the size of the force shows the commitment to finding the perpetrators.

‘It is a lot. A major investigation normally involves 15 to 20 people,’ he said. ‘This is a group with a major commitment.’ The police officers are based in the Netherlands and Kiev.

The police and public prosecution department expect to have identified where the missile was fired from in the second half of the year and to have more details about the exact type of missile involved.

The Dutch safety board said in its report last October the firing site was a 240 square kilometre location in rebel-held eastern Ukraine and that the missile was a Buk.