The remains of those killed in the MH17 crash have left Ukraine, bound for the Netherlands.
The bodies were farewelled with a ramp ceremony in Kharkiv, in Ukraine's north east, led by Australia's special envoy Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston.
"We stand together, united and determined to give those who are lost the respect and dignity they deserve as they make their journeys back to their homelands and their loved ones," Mr Houston said at the ceremony on Wednesday evening Australian time.
He thanked the Ukraine people and government for their help.
Mr Houston stood with Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and a representative of the Dutch government to observe a moment's silence for the dead before the aircraft carrying their remains departed.
Mr Groysman said the flight was shot down by "shoulder-fired missiles of the Russian army".
"(The passengers) were dreaming about their holiday destinations but the flight was downed," he said.
"Those people who are guilty of this terrorist act will be punished."
Australia's ambassador to Ukraine Jean Dunn and the London defence attache Colonel Peter Steel also attended the ramp ceremony, along with officials from the Netherlands and Malaysia.
The coffins of fewer than 20 victims were loaded one by one onto a Dutch C-130 and an Australian C-17 by the surrounding guardsmen.
The bodies are being taken direct to Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands, where they'll be officially received by the Dutch king and queen, and Australia's representative, Sir Peter Cosgrove.
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