Ukraine: Russia Helping to Destroy Crash Evidence
A pro-Russia fighter stands on guard the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines jet near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, July 19, 2014.
Ukraine has accused Russia of assisting pro-Russian separatists in destroying evidence at the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines flight shot down with 298 people onboard.
The government said Saturday the rebels have removed 38 bodies from the site and taken them to the insurgent-controlled city of Donetsk.
Ukraine said the separatist rebels were transported with the assistance of “specialists with clearly Russian accents.”
Russia has not commented on Ukraine’s claims.
Malaysia’s transport minister said Saturday vital evidence at the Ukrainian site had been tampered with, calling it a “betrayal” of the lives lost in the disaster.
Liow Tiong Lai said “the integrity of the site has been compromised” and there are indications that vital evidence has not been preserved.”
International investigators are just reported to be gaining more access to the crash site Saturday. The rebels who control the crash area granted only limited access to the site Friday to investigators with the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe.
An “outrage of unspeakable proportions”
U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday the United States is confident a surface-to-air missile shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight over Ukraine and that it was fired from territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists. The U.S. leader called the deaths of 298 passengers and crew an “outrage of unspeakable proportions.”
The president stopped short of directly blaming any specific person or group for shooting down the plane; but, he said Ukrainian separatists are known to have received a steady stream of support from Russia, including heavy weapons, anti-aircraft weapons and training.
Obama said Russian President Vladimir Putin has the most control over the situation in Ukraine, but has not used it to work toward a peaceful settlement.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for the downing of the plane. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Ukraine allowed the passenger jet to fly through an area of hostilities. He called for a fair and open investigation.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot said Saturday “the idea that Russia can wash its hands of responsibility because this happened in Ukrainian airspace just does not stand serious scrutiny.”
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur Thursday when it was shot down.
Nearly 200 of the passengers were Dutch nationals. The International AIDS Society says there were at least six delegates on the plane who where traveling to an AIDS conference in Australia, including former IAS President Joep Lange.
Other victims include 44 Malaysians, 28 Australians and 12 Indonesians. Several people each from Britain, Germany, Belgium, Vietnam and the Philippines were also killed, along with one each from the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The crew of 15 were all Malaysians.
Malaysia Airlines says the route where the plane was hit is commonly used for Europe to Asia flights; but, the airline says it is now no longer flying planes over Ukrainian airspace, instead routing its aircraft over Turkey.
Source: VOA