Russian-made missile parts possibly found near Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash site

A piece of debris from the fallen flight MH17

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Dutch investigators announced Tuesday that they have found parts of a missile system near the site in Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 went down last July, killing all 298 passengers on board, The Guardian reports. While investigators underscored the fact that they have not yet proven the missile part's "causal connection" to the crash, they say the fragments of a suspected Russian missile system are of "particular interest to the criminal investigation as they can possibly provide more information about who was involved in the crash of MH17."

Prosecutors have previously surmised that missiles were the cause of the crash, but this is the first time that they have uncovered possible physical evidence to back that theory. The investigators have enlisted the help of weapons experts and forensic experts to examine the missile parts and better discern whether there is a causal connection.