Hackers allied to the Russian security service SVR were able to get into the Dutch police system in 2017 while the investigation into the downing of flight MH17 was underway, the Volkskrant said on Tuesday.

The hack was not noticed by the police, but did come to light thanks to information from the Dutch security service AIVD, the paper said.

The hack led to ‘major panic’ because of the MH17 probe, the paper said. It bases the claim on conversations with people close to the incident, but the police and AIVD  have declined to either confirm or deny the hack.

In July 2017, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Belgium, Australia and Malaysia agreed to start legal action against the people they suspected of involvement in shooting down the plane in a Dutch court.

Russia has consistently denied any involvement and, the Volkskrant said, has used a wide range of tools to discredit the investigation, including hacking official organisations and espionage.

The hack identified by the AIVD via its own hacking networks, stemmed from the Dutch IP address of a police academy server, the sources told the paper.

‘Traces of the hackers were found in several different places,’ the Volkskrant said, quoting four sources.

As yet, it is not clear if the hackers were able to access any information relevant to the MH17 investigation, or what information they were able to obtain, the paper said.