Rozsypne: International investigators on Sunday searched a second site of wreckage from Malaysian Air Flight MH17 in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine as the authorities in Kiev accused Russia of amassing troops on the border.
The team of Dutch and Australian forensic experts and police officers on Sunday worked near the village of Rozsypne, Ilona de Ruyter, a spokeswoman for Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, the head of the recovery mission, said in a Twitter posting.
Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who is leading the Australian contingent, said investigators had recovered human remains and personal effects from the crash site over the past three days.
International forensic experts and members of the OSCE mission in Ukraine travel to the crash site on Sunday. Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky
"While no human remains were found today [Sunday], there is still a large area to be searched," he said in a statement.
"I respectfully ask for the continued patience and support of all parties as investigators proceed with their work.
"We know that the recovery of remains is vital for providing victims’ families with the closure they deserve at this difficult time.
Australian and Dutch experts examine the area of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plane crash near the village of Rossipne in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky
"We can’t bring them back but we can bring them home."
The inspectors broadened their search to an area about 8 kilometres west of where the bulk of the fuselage came down on July 17, after finding more human remains and personal effects of victims.
While hostilities in the area of the site were suspended on July 31, Russia is increasing its presence in regions neighbouring Ukraine, according to the Defence Ministry in Kiev.
"The Russians are continuing to build up men and arms near the Ukrainian border," Andriy Lysenko, a ministry spokesman, said in televised remarks. "There is proactive aerial surveillance with violations of Ukrainian air space."
A helicopter squadron has been deployed in the Kursk region, while 34 armoured vehicles with peacekeeping insignia arrived in the Bryansk region, Lysenko said.
Russia sent 10 tanks into Ukraine though uncontrolled frontier areas, he said. A duty press officer at the Russian Defence Ministry, who didn't identify himself in line with policy, declined to comment.
Conflict losses
About two-thirds of the 298 people who died on flight MH17, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, were Dutch. The US and Ukraine say the Boeing was most probably brought down by a missile fired by pro-Russian insurgents amid months of fighting which has claimed more than 1000 lives. Both Russia and the rebels blame Ukrainian forces.
A total of 227 coffins with remains have already been returned to the Netherlands. A Dutch air force plane will tomorrow fly remains discovered in the past two days to Eindhoven from Kharkiv, the De Telegraaf newspaper reported.
The 70-strong investigation team, helped by sniffer dogs, spent more than five hours at the original Grabovo site near a chicken farm. The remains and objects found were placed in a refrigerated truck to be taken to Kharkiv.
"There, Dutch, Australian and Malaysian experts and others stand ready to perform an initial forensic scan on the recovered remains," Mr Aalbersberg said.
The continuing conflict in the area was highlighted about noon local time yesterday, he said, when "there was mortar fire at a considerable distance from the police officers and experts at the chicken farm".
Officials from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe deemed there was no threat to the search group, which continued its work.
Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the conflict. The US and its European Union allies, though, blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for failing to rein in the insurgency and stop the war.
The US and European Union have imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russia aimed at pressuring Putin to de-escalate the crisis, with the latest penalties coming last week. The new round of sanctions targeted the Russian banking, energy and defence industries.
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