The Foreign Minister has rejected “insulting” claims made by the Russian ambassador, accusing the Australian Federal Police of a cover-up as the MH17 trial gets underway.

A Dutch trial into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, where 38 Australian were among the 298 killed, will hear evidence against four men charged with mass murder.

Key evidence includes photographs and video showing a BUK missile system driven on the back of a truck from Russia into Ukraine, then returning without the missile.

The three Russians and one Ukrainian will be tried “in absentia” in The Hague with both countries not agreeing to extradition requests.

In a 9 News exclusive, Russian ambassador to Australia Dr Alexey Pavlovsky claimed the photographic evidence was “falsified” and then withheld from the public by the AFP.

Minister Payne tells Deborah Knight she rejects the claim and says the comments are insulting to the victims.

“We have seen, over the past almost six years, a campaign of disinformation employed by representatives of the Russian government and the ambassador’s statements are a continuation of that and I’m very disappointed to hear that.”

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Image: Getty/Rob Stothard