The victims of the MH17 downing were remembered today at the Dutch national monument in Vijfhuizen, six years after the disaster.

With coronavirus protection rules in force, only four members of the foundation Stichting Vliegramp MH17 were present, a trumpeter played the Last Post and prime minister Mark Rutte spoke to other friends and family via a video message, reports NOS.

‘I am convinced that this does not lessen the sense of connection,’ said Rutte. ‘And it makes the one minute of silence only more powerful. It is precisely in the austerity of this ceremony that we get to the heart of things, and the names of your lost loved ones sound louder than ever.’

Last week the Dutch government announced that it would take Russia to the European Court of Human Rights over the downing of the flight, after a Joint Investigation Team found that the BUK missile which shot it down came from a Russian army brigade. The Kremlin has always denied involvement.

On July 17 2014, all 298 passengers and crew of the MH17 flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur died, including 196 people from the Netherlands.