KIEV, July 31 (RIA Novosti) — A group of experts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was again unable to reach the Malaysian Boeing 777 crash site in eastern Ukraine Thursday, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister said.
Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman said east Ukraine independence supporters refused access to the crash site, citing danger.
International experts have been unable to reach the crash site for several days due to heavy fighting between the Ukrainian Army and independence supporters.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko promised to stop attacks in the area, but later Ukrainian officials announced that they planned to “clean up” the territory from militia and fighting intensified.
The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday ratified an agreement between Ukraine and Australia giving the latter access to the crash site to provide security during investigations as well as assisting in the return of human remains.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday Kiev was acting in violation of a UN Security Council resolution by not halting its military actions near the Malaysian plane crash site.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that the Kiev government intensified military operations against its own people after getting support from Western countries.
Moscow has described the ongoing military action as “punitive” and has repeatedly called on Kiev to put an immediate end to the bloodshed.
Malaysia Airlines MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur went down in Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine on July 17. All 298 people on board, including 85 children and 15 crew members, died in the crash.
