MH17: BBC slams 'misleading' headlines claiming its film proved a Ukrainian jet downed airliner

The BBC has denied media reports that it produced a documentary proving a Ukrainian fighter jet downed the Malaysian Airlines passenger plane MH17, as a row has been reignited over theories surrounding the tragedy.

The BBC says that its film the Conspiracy Files: Who Shot Down MH17 looked objectively at all the theories around the ill-fated plane which crashed killing all 298 on board in 2014.

But it did not stop Russian-state media leaping upon headlines such as those run by the Sunday Express which said: "Shock Claim: Ukrainian fighter jet shot down Malaysia Airlines' MH17" and the Kremlin propaganda channels focusing on apparent allegations that the plane was brought down by bombs in a CIA-backed conspiracy.

It led to the head of the State Duma's foreign affairs committee Alexey Pushkov to tweet that the film would mean getting "close to the truth about the downed Boeing" but sparked dismay among opposition figures such as Garry Kasparov who said that the "idiots at the BBC" were running a film that would get Kremlin approval.

However the BBC said the headlines were "misleading" and the film: "examines in detail the findings of the official Dutch inquiry into the incident, which provides compelling evidence that the plane was brought down by a powerful ground to air missile," the Telegraph reported.

The Russian government refuses to accept the findings of the official Dutch-led inquiry into the downing of the plane, its defence ministry claiming it has proof a Ukrainian jet was behind it, although the satellite images it used to back this up was accused by the citizen journalist group Bellingcat of being faked.

The lawyer acting for the families of those on-board the downed plane described the compensation offer made by the airline as "almost offensive."

A separate criminal investigation is being undertaken to discuss the legal options available to bring those responsible for downing the aircraft to justice.