Video: Russian-backed rebels ransack MH17 luggage after crash

Australian Foreign minister Julie Bishop said on Friday that she was ‘sickened” after watching footage that emerged showing Russian-backed rebels looking through the luggage of passengers killed from the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that was shot down over Ukraine. The video was published by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph on the one-year anniversary of the routine flight that was interrupted on July 17.

“It is sickening to watch and 12 months on from the downing of MH17 it is deeply concerning that this footage has emerged now,” said Bishop of the flight where 298 passengers were killed but she was unable to verify the authenticity of the video that shows men holding guns, dressed in army camouflage wandering through the wreckage.

The plane shot down during fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists was condemned, but Moscow denied involvement. A criminal probe by Australian, Belgian, Dutch, Malaysian and Ukrainian detectives is underway. The United Nations Security Council has been called to establish a criminal tribunal to try those responsible for the plane crash.