Orthodox priests performed a service at the crash site after Ukraine declared Wednesday a national day of mourning.
Ukrainian authorities said most of the 170 victims' bodies had been recovered from the crash site.
Tents were set up near the site, , about 45km (30 miles) north of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk, to house a temporary morgue.
Local residents reacted with shock as they looked at the wreckage.
Relatives of crash victims arrived at St Petersburg's airport, the flight's destination, to fly to the crash site.
Forty-five of the 160 passengers on the Pulkova Airlines flight were children.
Russian and Ukrainian investigators have divided the wreckage site into squares to look for evidence of what caused the crash.
Two "black box" flight recorders have been found amongst the crash debris. Investigators say they are in good condition and might hold clues as to what caused the crash.
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