NBC News – HRABOVE, Ukraine — Residents of the Ukrainian village where a Malaysian airliner was shot down with 298 people aboard a year ago began a procession to the crash site on Friday.
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The ceremony came amid an escalating war of words over who was responsible for destroying the plane.
Ukrainian and Western authorities say the plane was downed by a missile fired either by rebels or Russian troops who allegedly back them. The rebels and Moscow say it was hit by a Ukrainian warplane or a Ukrainian-fired missile.
In Hrabove, villagers carrying flowers gathered in the church in the center of the village at the start of a procession to the site in nearby fields. The commemoration, organized by local leaders and the Russia-backed separatist rebels who control the area, will include the dedication of a small stone with a plaque in the field.
The passengers included 38 Australian citizens and permanent residents who were among the 298 people on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot down.
In Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott unveiled a plaque inscribed with the names of Australian victims, which is set in soil that a police officer brought back from Ukraine.
"He knew that the place where MH17 came to rest was sacred and that a piece of it should come back to Australia," Abbott said. "It was a humane and decent thing for him to know and do. It was a contrast to the savagery that brought down the plane."
Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine have asked the United Nations Security Council to establish an international criminal tribunal to prosecute those responsible for shooting down the plane.
Russia, however, is opposing a proposed resolution to establish a tribunal for the crash, and has veto power in the Security Council.