The two black boxes of the crashed Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 aircraft have been handed over to the special Malaysian investigation team, its leader Khairil Hilmi Mokhtar said Tuesday.

He said the black boxes were given to the team in Donetsk, Ukraine, where the plane had crashed.

"We will take them to the Netherlands before bringing them back home to Malaysia," Khairil Hilmi told Bernama.

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said in Putrajaya Monday night that the black boxes would be delivered to a Malaysian team at 9 pm (2 am in Malaysia) after he had spoken to Alexander Borodai, who is in command of the troubled region where the crash occurred.

The MAS flight, MH17, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border on Thursday night.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft was carrying 298 people - 283 passengers and 15 crew.

It is believed that the plane was shot down but until today no one has claimed responsibility for that.