Tag: flight mh 17
Ukraine Troops Nearing MH-17 Crash Site; U.N. Opens War-Crime Probe

Ukraine Troops Nearing MH-17 Crash Site; U.N. Opens War-Crime Probe

By Steven Zeitchik and Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times

KIEV, Ukraine — Ukrainian government forces recaptured three towns from pro-Russia separatists and were pressing toward the Malaysia Airlines crash site in eastern Ukraine where the separatists accused of downing the plane have obstructed international disaster investigators, officials said Monday.

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, meanwhile, said at a news conference in Geneva that the shooting down of MH-17 and the deaths of all 298 people on board were being investigated for possible war-crime charges.

Pro-Russia militants who seized a dozen towns and cities in eastern Ukraine in March and April have seen the territory under their control reduced by more than half during the past few weeks and are now holed up in their embattled strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk. The separatists also control the miles-wide crash site strewn with debris and victims’ remains but face an advancing government offensive emboldened by international outrage over the plane’s destruction.

Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told journalists in Kiev on Monday that government troops had recovered control of Shakhtarsk, about 20 miles from the center of the crash site.

“Our troops entered Shakhtarsk, Torez, and Lutuhyne,” Lysenko said, claiming government control of towns on roads leading to the wreckage strewn among sunflower fields.

A team of more than 60 Dutch and Australian investigators attempted to reach the crash site for a second time Monday but stopped short because of fighting nearby, a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe told reporters in Kiev.

The international police team is charged with securing the debris field near the village of Hrabove but has been prevented from reaching the area by fighting and militants’ roadblocks since the July 17 disaster.

U.S. intelligence sources have identified the cause of the crash as a surface-to-air missile launched by a sophisticated BUK anti-aircraft system allegedly provided to the separatists by Russia.

U.S. and European Union officials have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of arming the separatists and instigating them with his late February seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and annexation of the militarily strategic region to Russia. Much of the eastern Ukraine territory occupied by the pro-Russia militants would provide a land bridge for Russia toward Crimea, which hosts Russia’s naval fleet but has no border with the Russian mainland.

Putin denies responsibility for the separatists’ actions, although many of those killed in battles with Ukrainian forces have been identified as Russian citizens and Russian special forces veterans openly command the militants in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The European Union is expected to vote this week on a proposal for tough new sanctions that would target key sectors of the Russian economy, including banking, oil, and defense. The United States has led a campaign to impose harsh penalties on the Russian economy to force the Kremlin to change its policies in Ukraine and halt alleged support for the separatists.

The Russia-allied militants located the downed plane’s black boxes and held them for several days before turning them over to investigators led by the Netherlands, which lost 193 citizens in the crash.

Lysenko said the Ukrainian government had been informed that an initial review of the black-box data suggested the crash was caused by shrapnel puncturing the fuselage, causing massive decompression and breakup of the Boeing 777 that had been flying at an altitude of more than 33,000 feet.

The flight from Amsterdam en route to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, was carrying more than 100 passengers destined for an international AIDS conference in Australia, including 28 Australians.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was in Kiev on Monday to discuss Ukrainian government support for an armed Australian police force to protect the crash site and foreign investigators trying to collect evidence from the scene.

“We’ll be seeking assurances that any military action doesn’t compromise our humanitarian mission,” Bishop told a news conference.

Bishop also said Australia hoped Russia would use its influence with the rebels to ensure access to the site so that investigators can determine responsibility for disaster.

In Geneva, a U.N. report released Monday said the eastern Ukraine conflict spurred by pro-Russian militants’ land grabs four months ago has claimed the lives of 1,129 people.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the Malaysia Airlines jet crash was being investigated as a possible war crime and called for immediate and unhindered access for investigators to the crash site.

“This violation of international law, given the prevailing circumstances, may amount to a war crime. It is imperative that a prompt, thorough, effective, independent and impartial investigation be conducted into this event,” Pillay said.

AFP Photo/Bulent Kilic

Interested in world news? Sign up for our daily email newsletter!

Russia Hopes For ‘Impartial’ Malaysia Jet Crash Investigation

Russia Hopes For ‘Impartial’ Malaysia Jet Crash Investigation

By Steven Zeitchik and Isabel Gorst, Los Angeles Times

KIEV, Ukraine — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday dug his heels in on the war in Ukraine and Russia’s alleged involvement in the conflict, saying that Kiev had overstepped its bounds in fighting the insurgency.

“The Ukrainian authorities think they can use any means in order to defend their territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Lavrov said.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s belief that Ukraine is the aggressor in the months-long battle, which in recent days has seen Ukraine regain control of a swath of territory in the east, forcing separatists to retreat to a handful of urban areas.

He portrayed the separatists as victims and said they were fighting for their survival.

“People in the east would otherwise be destroyed,” he said. “That is the reason for the deterioration of the situation.”

Ukraine and the United States believe Russia is supplying ammunition and training to separatists, including heavy weaponry such as rocket launchers, and even firing from artillery positions on the Russian side of the border, a charge Russia has denied.

Lavrov on Monday pointedly did not deny that Russia was supplying weapons when questioned on the issue by a reporter. Instead, he turned the discussion to monitors, saying that representatives from the impartial Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe had been invited to the Russia-Ukraine border to witness military activity there but had thus far not come. He said it was in fact Ukraine that was initiating shelling into Russia.

Lavrov also blamed Ukrainian military action for investigators’ inability to reach the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, saying that a buffer zone announced by Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko had not been honored.

“The reality is Ukrainian authorities have to stop their fighting and respect the resolution of the U.N. Security Council and provide full access to the crash site,” Lavrov said, adding that Russia wanted investigators to “find out the truth.”

“The first priority is that the investigation will be impartial,” he said.

Ukrainian officials said the separatists — who Kiev and the United States believe fired the missile that downed the airliner — have continued waging battle in the area, jeopardizing the safety of investigators hoping to find answers to the crash and recover property and human remains. United States and European officials have called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge separatists to secure the crash zone, which lies within territory they control.

On Sunday, a team of more than 60 Dutch and Australian investigators stopped short of reaching the site because of fighting nearby. They set out again Monday morning from the separatist-held city of Donetsk.

Lavrov also accused Kiev of violating a series of legal agreements after pro-Russia president Viktor Yanukovich fled in February that Russia believes would protect Russian-speaking citizens in the east.

“The agreements have not been honored,” Lavrov said, which has led to “a policy of suppression of protest in the east.” He also said that “Ukrainian authorities are refusing to speak and sit at the negotiating table with the east and start the dialogue.”

Poroshenko has said he is prepared to begin a legislative process to being handing over more autonomy to Ukrainian citizens in the country’s Russia-leaning east region.

Lavrov’s comments come at the start of a week when the European Union is expected to vote on a proposal for tough sanctions that would target key sectors of the Russian economy, including banking, oil, and defense. The United States has led a campaign to impose harsh penalties on the Russian economy to force the Kremlin to change its policies in Ukraine and halt alleged support for the separatists.

Lavrov said that Russia would not necessarily retaliate if the EU voted in favor of harsher sanctions. “We are not intending to act on the principle of ‘an eye for an eye,'” he said.

But he decried the sanctions as unfair.

“The Western partners have not explained what they want from us,” he said. “Just saying Russia needs to change is not enough.”

Zeitchik reported from Kiev; Gorst reported from Moscow.

AFP Photo/Dominique Faget

Interested in world news? Sign up for our daily email newsletter!