Four on trial charged with murder over flight MH17 which killed Newcastle United supporters

The father and brother of Liam Sweeney, who died alongside John Alder on flight MH17, are in Amsterdam for the trial.

John Alder, 63 and Liam Sweeney, 28, were travelling on flight MH17 to watch the Magpies play in New Zealand, when it was shot down over Ukraine in 2014.

Three men from Russia and one from Ukraine are charged with murder. The four with links to the Russian military are not expected to appear before the court and will instead be tried in absentia.

The Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab has urged Russia to "co-operate fully" with the trial which is taking place in the Netherlands.

Mr Raab said there can be "no impunity" for those responsible for the "appalling crime", which left all 298 people on board the plane dead in July 2014.

An official inquiry found the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was hit by a Bukmissile launched from an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists.

The UK has donated £100,000 to help establish the Dutch court.

What is known about the four suspects?

Igor Girkin: He is a former colonel in Russia's intelligence service, the FSB. Girkin was Minister of Defence and commander of the army of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. He had direct contact with Moscow.

Sergey Dubinskiy: Employed by Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, he was Girkin's second in command, say prosecutors, and again, had direct access to the Russian Federation.

Oleg Pulatov: A former special forces soldier with Russia's elite Spetznaz unit, he was deputy head of intelligence services in Donetsk.

Leonid Kharchenko: The only one of the foursome to have no military background. Also known as Krot, he received his orders directly from Dubinskiy. In July 2014, prosecutors believe, he was in charge of a combat unit in the Donetsk region.