Netherlands mourns as bodies of MH17 crash victims return

KHARKIV – Wooden coffins were being
brought out on the tarmac of a Ukrainian
airport as the first plane carrying corpses
recovered from the crash site of Malaysian
flight MH17 readied to leave for the
Netherlands on Wednesday.
Grieving families and Dutch royals are due to
receive the bodies as flags fly at half mast on
a day of mourning across the nation, which
lost 193 citizens in the flight that was
allegedly blown out of the sky by a missile,
turning civilians from a dozen nations into
casualties of a remote conflict raging in
eastern Ukraine.
US officials said the Kuala Lumpur-bound
plane from Amsterdam was mistakenly shot
down by pro-Russian separatists as
investigators hope two black boxes, which will
be sent to Britain for analysis, would help to
shed light on the disaster that killed all 298
on board.
The recovery of the crucial flight recorders and
the victims’ remains came after days of bitter
wrangling with pro-Russian separatists
controlling the crash site, who finally released
them under intense international pressure.
But officials say many remains were still on
the sprawling crash site in rebel-held territory,
decomposing under the summer heat.
Evidence gathered by US intelligence officials
suggests pro-Russian separatists launched
the SA-11 surface-to-air missile that blew up
the Malaysia Airlines flight on Thursday, but it
remains unclear “who pulled the trigger” and
why.
“The most plausible explanation… was that it
was a mistake”, and that the missile was fired
by “an ill-trained crew” using a system that
requires some skill and training, said a senior
intelligence official who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
“We’ve all seen mistakes in the past,” the
official told reporters, in reference to a Korean
airliner downed by a Soviet fighter jet in 1983,
and an Iranian passenger plane shot down by
US naval forces in 1988.
- Information war -
Russia, which US officials accuse of backing
the separatists by providing them with
military hardware and training, has faced a
hail of international condemnation over the
accident.
The crash has spurred an intense propaganda
war, with both Ukraine and Russia trading
blame, ratcheting up tensions after months of
crisis sparked when Kiev turned its back on its
former Soviet master in favour of stronger
European ties.
Russia denies supporting the rebels who have
declared independence in parts of Russian-
speaking eastern Ukraine and also says it did
not supply the missile system allegedly used
to bring down MH17.
US intelligence officials said Russian claims
the Ukrainian government had shot down the
plane were “not plausible” noting that the
territory was clearly under rebel control.
A senior security official in Kiev claimed that
Russia had massed over 40,000 soldiers along
its border over the past week.
- ‘Human remains not picked up’ -
A truce has been declared by rival sides
around the crash impact site, but international
investigators still face massive obstacles.
Dutch officials confirmed receipt of only 200 of
the 298 victims’ bodies.
International monitors said more remains were
left in the vast crash site, littered with
poignant fragments from hundreds of
destroyed lives.
“There were human remains that had not been
picked up,” said Michael Bociurkiw, a
spokesman for European security body OSCE’s
mission to Ukraine after visiting the scene.
Just beyond the crash site, fighting raged on
as government troops pushed on with an
offensive to wrest control of east Ukraine’s
industrial heartland from the pro-Moscow
separatists.
Local authorities in the besieged city of
Lugansk reported Wednesday three civilians
killed and 10 injured in the last 24 hours.
Around 1,000 people have been killed in the
15-week conflict, if the victims of the plane
crash were included in the toll.
- Russia faces more sanctions -
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday
pledged to “do everything” to influence the
separatists and ensure a full probe into the
crash.
At the same time, he put the ball back in
Kiev’s court, saying that the Ukrainian military
offensive in the east was posing a danger to
international investigators there.
“We are asked to exert influence on the
militants of the south-east (of Ukraine). Of
course we will do everything in our power.
“However this would be absolutely inadequate”
given fresh attacks by Ukrainian troops, he
said.
Putin is staring down fresh European
sanctions just a week after the latest set was
unveiled over its role in the Ukraine crisis,
which has chilled East-West tensions to the
lowest point in years.
The emerging giant is widely expected to sink
into recession this year, hit by massive capital
outflows over the Ukraine crisis.
But more pain could still come as Britain is
pushing for an arms embargo.
Britain’s stance is, however, putting neighbour
France in an awkward position, as Paris is
keen to maintain its 1.2 billion euro ($1.6
billion) warship deal with Russia.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told
Britain to first put its house in order, pointing
out that London was full of “Russian
oligarchs”.
Washington however told France that the
delivery of Mistral-class warships to Russia
would be “completely inappropriate”.