THE HAGUE: A Malaysian passenger jet which blew up over rebel-held east Ukraine with the loss of all 298 people on board was hit by numerous “high-energy objects,” according to a report Tuesday which could back up claims it was downed by a missile.

The Flight 17 was likely struck by multiple “high-energy objects from outside the aircraft,” causing it to break up over eastern Ukraine, a preliminary report into the deadly aviation disaster concluded Tuesday.

While the report by the Dutch Safety Board does not point the finger of blame over the July disaster, it could heighten Western pressure against Moscow over its role in the bloody Ukraine conflict.

The report stopped short of saying the Boeing 777 was shot down by a missile but its findings point to that conclusion. It also did not say who might have been responsible.

The Boeing 777 suddenly plunged out of the sky July 17 over territory held by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 “broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside,” said the Dutch Safety Board report.

International experts have been unable to access the rebel-held crash site northeast of Donetsk because of fighting, and have relied on information from the black boxes, Ukrainian officials, as well as pictures and video taken at the scene.

But the findings appear to back up claims that the Boeing 777, which plunged out of the sky on July 17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was hit by a missile.

“The initial results of the investigation point toward an external cause of the MH17 crash,” said Tjibbe Joustra, chairman of the OVV safety board.

He said more work was needed to determine the cause with greater precision and that the final report was expected by July 2015.