REUTERS

In a statement on the fifth anniversary of the shooting down of MH17, families of victims have called on Moscow to disclose the names of those responsible for the liner's downing and stop "lies and deceit"

"Five years ago, our family members got on a plane in Amsterdam to make their way home. Not far into the journey, their plane was shot out of the sky by a missile from the 53rd anti-aircraft brigade of the Russian army. Our beloved family members were all murdered in a brutal and senseless act," reads an open letter published by Novaya Gazeta.

The families have called on Russia to cooperate fully with the investigation, as you have promised in Resolution 2166 of the United Nations Security Council, but have so far failed to do; take the share of responsibility for the shooting down of MH17; and to stop "your disingenuous denials, your lies and deceit".

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"To this point there has been no acknowledgement by the Russian state of their involvement in the shooting down of MH17. Worse, Russia has spread multiple, bogus and contradictory explanations about what happened," the letter reads. "This has taken place on a massive scale through social media but also through the main state sponsored media channels. It took time for us to realise that this barrage of conflicting theories was the result of a state orchestrated campaign of denial, distraction and distortion."

The Russian government has done its best to hide the truth, or worse, convey the idea that there is no reliable truth to be found. We the families of MH17 have found this disturbing and deeply offensive, the families of the MH17 victims note.

"We want those directly responsible for committing this crime, along with the chain of command above them, to be named and for history to know who they are and what they have done. We want them to be held to account. We will continue to call for this until it happens. We can do no less," the letter concludes.