The safety investigation commission OvV is leaving Ukraine and will continue its research into the cause of the MH17 air crash in The Hague, according to Dutch media on Monday.

The OvV team was at the site of the downed Malaysian Airlines flight shortly after the crash but was only able to investigate the wreckage for a short time.

Since then, fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country where the wreckage lies has prevented further investigation.

In addition, rockets fired at the rebel city of Donetsk hit the high-security prison at the weekend, allowing a number of dangerous prisoners to escape.

Return

The team is now returning to the Netherlands where it will continue its investigation, using information from the plane’s black boxes and from radar and satellite images.

Originally, the OvV said it would report its findings to the Dutch government in July, but this has now been postponed.

The move follows the discontinuation of the repatriation mission by forensic experts last Wednesday.

It is not known if either team will be able to return to eastern Ukraine.