At last! Dramatic moment a scruffy, heavily-armed pro-Russian rebel finally handed over two MH17 black boxes to Malaysia - days too late
- Malaysian PM Najib Razak said boxes were handed over in Donetsk
- Black boxes likely to be passed onto experts for analysis
- Senior members of Russian military claimed a Ukrainian jet with air-to-air missiles was tailing MH17
- Claim satellite evidence shows erratic movements and challenged Ukraine to 'explain' the presence of fighter plane
- Around 200 corpses were left in the heat for three days before being piled up and driven to refrigerated carriages
The MH17 black boxes have been handed over to the Malaysian investigation team in Ukraine, it was revealed last night.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that the boxes were handed over to the Malaysian team in Donetsk at 9pm Ukraine time.
The small handing over ceremony has finally solved the question as to what had happened to the two vital devices.
It was not immediately known what the Malaysian team would do with the black boxes, but there was speculation they would pass the boxes on to experts with experience of reading the data.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
Crucial evidence? Pro-Russian separatists finally hand over the two black boxes from MH17 to Colonel Mohamed Sakri (not pictured) of Malaysian National Security Council during a press conference in Donetsk
Separatist soldiers unveil the black boxes of the crashed Malaysian Air airliner MH17 to Colonel Mohamed Sakri (not pictured) of Malaysian National Security Council during a press conference
A Malaysian expert checks one of the two black boxes. The small handing over ceremony has finally solved the question as to what had happened to the two vital devices
Mr Najib revealed that in recent days the team had been working quietly behind the scenes to establish contact with 'those' - a reference to the rebels - in charge of the MH17 crash site.
The contact was finally made - but he made it clear it had not been easy.
'Under difficult and fluid circumstances, we have been discussing the problems that have occupied us all - securing vital evidence from the aircraft, launching an independent investigation and above all recovering the remains of those who lost their lives.'
There had been a breakthrough, he said.
'We have established the basis of an agreement to do just that,' he said in a reference to overdoing the problems.
IS THE DATA ON MH17'S BLACK BOXES USELESS? EXPERTS SAY RECORDERS WILL REVEAL NOTHING ABOUT ATTACK
Information retrieved from the two black boxes on MH17 would be 'absolutely useless' to the investigation, an expert said today.
Investigators hope the flight recorders - which have finally been relinquished by pro-Russian rebels - will shed more light on what happened to the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777.
Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed this afternoon that data from the devices will be examined by British air accident investigators after a request from the Dutch government.
But Stewart John, past president of the Royal Aeronautical Society, said they were unlikely to reveal anything of importance.
He told MailOnline: 'The most you’re going to get is an explosion - and there’s nothing in my mind that could prove useful. What happened wasn't a typical crash.
Four days after flight MH17 crashed from the sky over Ukraine, rebels handed over the Boeing 777's recorders (pictured) last night. The delay has led to fears about if the data has been compromised and Malaysian investigators will be studying the data to try and determine what happened
'If they had technical problems and crashed to the ground there would be parameter details, but in this case there would have just been almighty bang and everything would have switched off.'
As a result, he said it was also unlikely that anyone would want to cover up or delete the data because they would have heard if they had listened to the recordings was 'normal, everyday' plane data.
His comments came after Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman suggested separatists 'did certain things' to the black boxes while in their hands.
Richard Taylor from the Civil Aviation Authority added that even if the boxes were tampered with, it would be impossible to do so undetected.
Critical role: David Cameron tweets that British investigators would be drafted in to examine the black boxes
The data on the recorders can only be listened to using dedicated readout systems and software.
If the boxes aren’t damaged, investigators can play it back by connecting it to a readout system, via USB or Ethernet ports.
Memory boards can be removed by those familiar with the design and layout of the particular boxes, but this is said to take specialist equipment and knowledge.
To ‘hack’ the box a person would need to replace existing data with a false narrative to explain what happened to the plane during the time period.
A black box records more than 80 channels of data, so any attempts to hack it would need to alter all relevant data within the box.
Experts
based in Farnborough in Hampshire will be tasked with retrieving data from the flight
recorders for 'international analysis', Mr Cameron said in a tweet.
The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is part of the Department for Transport and is responsible for the investigation of civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents.
Commercial planes are required by law to be fitted with recorders. To protect the memory boards, black boxes are covered in a layer of aluminium, as well as a 1-inch layer of insulation, encased in a corrosion-resistant orange stainless steel or titanium shell (pictured at last night's handover)
Aleksandr Borodai (centre), Prime Minister of the self proclaimed 'Donetsk People's Republic', gestures while speaking the news conference
Malaysian PM Najib Razak revealed that in recent days the team had been working quietly behind the scenes to establish contact with 'those' - a reference to the rebels - in charge of the MH17 crash site
SEND US YOUR POLICE, UKRAINE URGES NATIONS WHO LOST LIVES
Britain and other countries which lost citizens in the Malaysian airlines tragedy should send police to protect evidence at the crash site in eastern Ukraine, the Kiev government said today.
The Ukraine government does not currently control the area around the crash because the territory is in rebel hands.
Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin said: 'We call on the countries whose citizens became victims in the airline crash and who have the most interest with Ukraine in investigating a complete and independent investigation, to examine the possibility of sending police units to provide security at and around the site of the airline crash and provide necessary aid in the investigation.'
His comments follow complaints about widespread tampering with the debris and bodies at the site.
It was not immediately clear if the Russian-backed separatists would allow forces from Holland, Malaysia, Australia and Britain and other countries to access the site.
'Firstly, the remains of 282 people, currently in Torez, will be moved by train to Kharkiv, where they will be handed over to representatives from the Netherlands.
'The train will depart this evening Ukraine time and will be accompanied by six Malaysian members of the recovery team.
'The remains will then be flown to Amsterdam on board a Dutch C130 Hercules, together with the Malaysian team.'
Mr Najib said, in reference to his own citizens, that following any necessary forensic work, the remains of Malaysian citizens will then be flown home to Malaysia.
It is expected the same process will follow for the citizens of other countries.
The Prime Minister said that in another breakthrough an independent international investigation team would be guaranteed safe access to the crash site to begin a full investigation.
'I must stress that although agreement has been reached, there remain a number of steps required before it is completed,' said Mr Najib.
'There is work still to be done, work which relies on continued communication in good faith. Mr Borodai and his people have so far given their co-operation.
'I ask that all parties continue to work together to ensure that this agreement is honoured; that the remains of our people are returned, that the black box is handed over, and that the international team is granted full access to the site.
Remembering the dead: A full-page obituary notice is printed in the national daily De Volkskrant with names of all 293 victims of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 issued by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
Vocal: Malaysian activists hold banners during a protest at the United Nations office in Kuala Lumpur to demand justice for the 298 victims of the MH17 crash
Demanding justice: The protest came as the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine
Mr Razak and his wife visit families of victims of Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash at Marriot Hotel Putrajaya
'Only then can the investigation into MH17 truly begin; only then can the victims be afforded the respect they deserve. We need to know what caused the plane to crash, and who was responsible for it, so that justice may be done.
'In recent days, there were times I wanted to give greater voice to the anger and grief that the Malaysian people feel. And that I feel. But sometimes, we must work quietly in the service of a better outcome.
'I
understand that for the families, nothing can undo this damage. The
lives taken cannot be given back; the dignity lost cannot be regained.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, sits in an aircraft cockpit of the Progress State Research and Production Space Centre (also known as TsSKB-Progress) in Samara, Russia
Forensic experts at the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Boeying 777, near the village of Grabovo. All flight recorders undergo tests to be able to survive accidents, as well as forceful entry. This includes drop tests, as well as fire and pressure tests. The law requires all flight solid-state recorders can survive these conditions
'My heart reaches out to those whose loved ones were lost on MH17. We hope and pray that the agreement reached tonight helps bring them a clear step towards closure.'
Meanwhile, a Dutch city that was home to 13 people killed on flight MH17 - including a British lawyer - was in 'shock', its deputy mayor said today.
Floris Voorink said the 'terrible tragedy' had hit the community of Hilversum hard.
Three families from the city near Amsterdam and one boy who recently moved from there to the capital were killed in the Malaysia Airlines disaster.
Among them was lawyer John Allen, his Dutch wife, Sandra, and their sons, Christopher, Julian and Ian.
Ukrainian workers load the remains of victims onto a truck at the main crash site of the Boeing 777 Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
Ukrainian State Emergency Service employees search for bodies among the wreckage at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Grabove
It comes after a series of increasingly outlandish and sensational claims were made by the Russian military to explain why flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine, contradicting the general Western consensus that it was shot out of the sky by pro-Moscow separatists.
The claims include the implication that a Ukrainian military jet could have tailed the plane and shot it out of the sky, to outright denials that it has supplied the separatists with surface-to-air missiles, despite U.S. claims yesterday that armaments were seen being driven across the border just days before.
The new theory was delivered by a Russian general, Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the General Staff's Main Operational Directorate at a press conference today, as outrage international outrage gathered at Russia and the separatists over the handling of the crisis, and in particular the bodies of the victims.
'An altitude gain was detected for a Ukrainian combat jet, supposedly a Su-25, flying at a distance of 3-5 kilometers from the Boeing,' said Lt. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov.
'The Su-25 ground attack aircraft is capable of destroying air targets at close range with air-to-air missiles.
'We would like Kiev to explain why a combat jet was flying almost at the same altitude and the same time with a passenger plane along the route dedicated for civilian air traffic,' said the general.
It came as U.S. President Barack Obama said the Russia and separatist handling of the disaster raises the prospect that they have something to hide.
At a press conference this afternoon, he called for international investigators to
have 'immediate and full access' to the site in eastern Ukraine.
President Obama accused
pro-Russian separatists in the area of removing evidence and bodies from
the crash site. He says that raises the question: 'What exactly are
they trying to hide?'
Reports claim a SU-25 jet (pictured) was tailing the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on Thursday
The president says the burden is on Russia and
President Vladimir Putin to compel the separatists to cooperate with the
investigation.
Russian military sources also claimed the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 started losing speed three minutes before it went off radar screens and crashed in eastern Ukraine.
'The plane began to steadily lose speed at 17.20 and disappeared from radar screens at 17.23,' alleged Kartapolov. 'The plane followed the established air corridor until Donetsk and then veered off its course to the north.'
He said the plane, which at one point was as much as 14 kilometres off course, attempted to return to the air corridor but crashed before completing the manoeuvre. Everyone on board - a total of 298 people - was killed as a result.
'The reason for flying off the course - whether the crew made a navigational error or followed Ukrainian air traffic control commands - can be learned only from flight recorders, known as 'black boxes' and from recorded communications of the air traffic control,' he claimed.
Kartapolov also said Russian satellite imagery showed Ukraine had moved a BUK weapons system towards rebel positions on the day of the Boeing tragedy.
UK foreign secretary Philip Hammond said all the evidence currently available indicates that the surface-to-air missile which destroyed the MH17 was supplied by Russia
Kartapolov said on 14 July the BUK system was eight kilometres away to the North West of Lugansk. Three days later it had moved close to Zaroschenskoe village, some 50 km from Donetsk and 8 km south Shakhtersk.
'We have a question, why would this weapon go so close to the territory controlled by militia and right before the tragedy? Having photographed the same area next day on 18 July we saw that the weapon had left the area.
He claimed images of the BUK being transported from Russia to Ukraine are fake. 'This is pure faking of materials,' he said.
'The pictures were taken in Krasnoarmeisk town, and it is proved by the banner visible next to the road. It shows the address of the car salon at Dnepropetrovskaya street, block 34.
'And Krasnoarmeisk has been controlled by the Ukrainian army since 11 May.'
The claims directly contradict an account given by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday.
Speaking on the CNN program 'State of the Union', Mr Kerry said: 'We know for certain that the separatists have a proficiency that they’ve gained by training from Russians as to how to use these sophisticated SA-11 systems.
The U.S. intelligence assessment, which was posted on the U.S. Embassy website in Kiev stated: 'Over the past month, we have detected an increasing amount of heavy weaponry to separatist fighters crossing the border from Russia into Ukraine.
'Last weekend, Russia sent a convoy of military equipment with up to 150 vehicles including tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery, and multiple rocket launchers to the separatists.
'We also have information indicating that Russia is providing training to separatist fighters at a facility in southwest Russia, and this effort included training on air defense systems.
MH17's black boxes were removed by pro-Russian separatists to their stronghold in Donetsk while the victims bodies were piled up and stored on a train in Torez before being taken to Kharkiv
'Pro-Russian separatist fighters have demonstrated proficiency with surface-to-air missile systems and have downed more than a dozen aircraft over the past few months, including two large transport aircraft.
'At the time that flight MH17 dropped out of contact, we detected a surface-to-air missile (SAM) launch from a separatist-controlled area in southeastern Ukraine. We believe this missile was an SA-11.
'Intercepts of separatist communications posted on YouTube by the Ukrainian government indicate the separatists were in possession of a SA-11 system as early as Monday July 14th.'
Prime Minister David Cameron also had harsh words for Russia today. In a statement to the Commons, the Prime Minister said there was now mounting evidence that separatist rebels in Ukraine shot down the Malaysian Airlines plane with a Russian surface-to-air missile.
He said: 'President Putin faces a clear choice in how he decides to respond to this appalling tragedy. I hope he will use this moment to find a path out of this festering and dangerous crisis by ending Russia's support for the separatists.
'If he does not change his approach to Ukraine in this then Europe and the West must fundamentally change our approach to Russia.
'It is time to make our power, influence and resources felt.'
Piled up: Rescue workers are pictured above at the MH17 crash site in Grabovo, eastern Ukraine, moving bodies onto trucks
The Russians' sensational claims came as the bodies of the victims continued to decompose in refrigerated trains in a town near the crash site, after being tossed onto rubbish trucks and driven there.
Almost 200 victims were piled high in the sweltering heat on eastern Ukraine before being carted off to a refrigerated train after their passenger jet was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.
For three days the 298 victims of the attack were left where they fell, in a field near the village of Grabovo in eastern Ukraine which is controlled by pro-Russian rebels, widely suspected of shooting the plane out of the sky on Thursday afternoon.
Over the weekend a chaotic clean-up operation finally began, where bodies were wrapped in black plastic and lined up along the roadside before being heaped onto dirty trucks to be taken to the train at a station nine miles away. In a further blow, it was claimed the refrigeration on board the carriages has not been working.
A chorus of outrage has been building over the treatment of the bodies, which victims' relatives have called 'degrading' and 'inhumane'. Today rebels promised that the train would be allowed to move on in the afternoon so the bodies could be examined by experts and eventually sent home.
The chaos surrounding the handling of the crash has compounded the grief of families bereaved by the crash, who have been left unable to arrange funerals or properly mourn their dead.
Repercussions from the disaster were today being felt around the world, as Western powers become increasingly certain that Russia is at least partly to blame for the attack.
Stench: A rebel can be seen holding his nose as the door to a carriage containing the heaped bodies is opened
Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary Philip, as well as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, have spoken of imposing economic sanctions on Russia as punishment, while Vladimir Putin spoke in a television address today warning his critics in the West against using the disaster for 'narrowly selfish political goals'.
Victim's relatives have made emotional appeals for the bodies to be returned as soon as possible, amid reports that the refrigeration in the carriage has only been inconsistently working.
Today relatives of Glenn Thomas, a 49-year-old press officer from Blackpool who was on MH17, begged for the return of his body, saying he and other victims had been 'degraded'
His
nephew, 22-year-old Jordan Withers, said: ‘It's hard one to swallow -
that's my uncle and everyone else's loved ones are there and they are
being degraded and treated inhumanely.
‘They
deserve a lot more respect than that. All we want now is my uncle back.
I'm sure every other family who's been involved in this tragedy that's
all they want.
‘It needs to be done as quickly and as peacefully as possible.
Tracey
Withers, Mr Thomas’s twin sister, added: ‘We just want them to show
some compassion and let people in to try and get the bodies back and the
personal possessions.
‘We're just hoping we've got personal possessions that can be brought back, anything that was Glenn's - even a pen, a letter, a book - anything that resembles what Glenn would have had.’
Barry Sweeney, whose son Liam, 28, caught MH17 on his way to a Newcastle United game in New Zealand, also called for the bodies' return.
In the heat: Emergency workers were pictured today at the crash site still struggling to gather together the last bodies of victims
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the 52-year-old father of seven said: 'Without going into politics because I think the Government have to sort that out, I just want them basically to bring the 298 people who need to be brought home for this to close.
'I have seen a little bit of the news, I try to stop watching it only because it is upsetting, especially when you see body bags but I’m hoping Liam is in one of those because I don’t want him to be lying there somewhere where there’s nobody there to give him a good cuddle, you know.'
'I think I’m getting through it because I can talk to people, as long as I’m talking, I’m fine; when I stop, the tears come.'
Silene
Fredriksz, who yesterday begged president Putin live on air to return
her children, today repeated her call for the remains of her son Bryce
and his girlfriend Daisy Ohlers.
She
said: ‘No words can describe it - Bodies are just lying there for three
days in the hot sun. There are people who have this on their
conscience. There are families who can never hold the body of a child or
a mother.’
Reverence: Mr Poroshenko (background) and Dutch ambassador Kees Klompenhouwer (foreground) were seen today kneeling in front of the tributes
However, today the head of a Dutch forensic team on the scene said the train should set off later today where 'we can do our work'.
'The train is going. We don't know the time and we don't know the destination. We got a promise: today it is going.'
'I just want the train to go to a place where we can do our work. And that is in the interest of everybody, especially the families of the victims.'
World leaders have emphasised the need to preserve the crash site as well as possible
Meanwhile Russian president Vladimir Putin hit back at his critics, and accused them of taking advantage of the MH17 disaster to further their own political goals.
Yesterday
he said: 'There are already representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk [the
rebel factions] working there, as well as representatives of the
emergencies ministry of Ukraine and others. But this is not enough....
we need a fully representative group of experts to be working at the
site.'
'In the meantime, nobody should and has no right to use this tragedy to achieve their narrowly selfish political goals.
'We repeatedly called upon all conflicting sides to stop the bloodshed immediately and sit down at the negotiating table. I can say with confidence that if military operations were not resumed on June 28 in eastern Ukraine, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.'
It did little to appease his foes in Ukraine's government, whose prime minister hit back by saying the Russian leader is 'on the side of the devil'.
Arseny Yatseniuk said today: 'I do not expect anything from the Russian government. They supplied weapons, they sent in fighters. Putin should understand that it's enough already. This is not a conflict between Ukraine and Russia. It is an international conflict.'
'Russia is on the dark side, on the side of the devil.'
It
came as rescuers retrieved more bodies today at the crash site in
eastern Ukraine, where a total of 251 victims are believed to have been
recovered.
The chaotic rescue effort continued ahead of an expected vote later by the U.N. Security Council on a resolution demanding international access to the crash site and a cease-fire around the area.
The pressure has been growing on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who the U.S. and others say has backed and armed the rebels, to rein in the insurgents in Ukraine and allow a full-scale investigation. The rebels have been blamed around the world for Thursday's downing of the Boeing 777.
This morning local rescue workers had piled 21 further black body bags by the side of the road at the crash site. It was unclear how quickly they would be transported to refrigerated train carriages in the nearby town of Torez, where the other bodies are being held.
VLAD HITS BACK: PUTIN'S STATEMENT IN FULL
Speaking out: Russia's Vladimir Putin
Russian president Vladimir Putin, right, has responded to critics the world over in a TV address today.
He
has been accused of not using his influence to ensure an orderly
investigation at the crash site, controlled by pro-Russian rebels in
eastern Ukraine.
Attempting to calm the situation, the leader said: 'There are already representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk working there, as well as representatives of the emergencies ministry of Ukraine and others. But this is not enough.
'This
task force is not enough. We need more, we need a fully representative
group of experts to be working at the site under the guidance of ICAO,
the relevant international commission.
'We
must do everything to provide security for the international experts on
the site of the tragedy.
'We need to do everything to provide its [ICAO
commission’s] safety, to provide the humanitarian corridors necessary
for its work.
'In the meantime, nobody should and has no right to use this tragedy to achieve their narrowly selfish political goals.
'We repeatedly called upon all conflicting sides to stop the bloodshed immediately and sit down at the negotiating table.
'I can say with confidence that if military operations were not resumed on June 28 in eastern Ukraine, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.
On Sunday night, Ukraine's emergency services agency said the total number of bodies found was 251. International indignation over the incident has grown as investigators still only have limited access to the crash site and it remains unclear when and where the victims' bodies will be transported.
A train engineer at the station said the cars' refrigeration had been off overnight but it was not immediately clear why. The cooling system was back up and running this morning, he said.
The shambolic effort to recover the bodies and investigate the crash has aroused international outrage, as pro-Russian rebels have hindered efforts by Ukrainian and international authorities. More than three days after the jetliner crashed, international investigators still had only limited access to the area where the plane landed.
A team of international monitors, including three from the Dutch National Forensic Investigations Team, were scheduled to visit both Torez and the crash site Monday.
That statement came in the wake of comments by the United States on Sunday, presenting what it called 'powerful' evidence that the rebels shot down the plane with a Russian surface-to-air missile.
'Russia is supporting these separatists. Russia is arming these separatists. Russia is training these separatists,' Secretary of State John Kerry said on CNN's `State of the Union.'
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Australia also spoke to Putin by phone late Sunday. European foreign ministers are also meeting in Brussels Tuesday to consider further sanctions on Russia.
Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday said there was a 'growing weight of evidence' suggesting that the rebels shot down the plane.
If that was the case, Cameron said that was 'a direct result of Russia destabilizing a sovereign state, violating its territorial integrity, backing thuggish militias and training and arming them.'
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whose country lost 28 citizens in the tragedy, said Putin 'said all the right things' during their telephone conversation about ensuring an international investigation into the disaster.
An armed separatist soldier (left) covers his face from the smell of corpses while OSCE inspectors and forensic experts from the Netherlands (background centre) check the body bags
DEFENCE EXPERT: WHY I THINK MH17 WAS SHOT DOWN BY AN INEXPERIENCED, TRIGGER-HAPPY RUSSIAN
BY DEFEENCE CONSULTANT AND RADAR EXPERT THOMAS WITHINGTON
Both Ukraine and Russia have the SA-11 Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system. At its heart of the SA-11 is the ‘Fire Dome’ radar used to detect hostile aircraft and to guide missiles to their targets. This radar can detect aircraft at a range of 17 nautical miles and at up to 72,100 feet, twice the altitude that MH17 was reportedly flying when it was hit.
Crucially, the radar is equipped with an Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system. The IFF is designed to ensure that the missile system’s operator never shoots down friendly or innocent civilian aircraft by mistake. It receives electronic signals transmitted by an aircraft’s transponder containing details of its identity and its altitude, known in aviation jargon as a ‘squawk’. This information is displayed next to the aircraft’s ‘blip’ on the radar screen to identify it.
If the IFF was, for any reason, not working then it would not have been possible for the operator to determine the identity of the aircraft that they are seeing. Instead their screen would be covered with blips, but no information on what these blips represents. The operator could shoot a missile, but they would have no real idea of what they were shooting at. To deploy a surface-to-air missile system without a working IFF is to court disaster; not least because you may shoot down one of your own aircraft by mistake.
Presuming that the IFF was functioning, an experienced radar operator would understand that the IFF information on their screens accompanying these blips represented airliners. They would also know that the flight patterns of the blips on their screens were consistent with airliners flying predictable courses, at predictable altitudes along busy air corridors.
Put simply, to the trained operator, a radar screen provides a wealth of detailed information of what is flying above them. To the inexperienced operator, it is nothing more than an array of illuminated dots annotated with letters and numbers.
Was an inexperienced radar operator on a hair trigger responsible for shooting down MH17? Did they launch a missile at what they thought was a large military aircraft without understanding that they were shooting at an airliner?
If the IFF was not working, why was the missile system even deployed? Did Russian-backed forces not realise that this would bring a very significant risk of shooting down an innocent aircraft?
If the SA-11 operator did not understand what they were shooting at, or if the SA-11 was deployed without a working IFF, then those responsible are guilty of supreme criminal negligence. However, if they knew what they were shooting at, then they are guilty of mass murder.
'I'm now going to try to ensure that
as far as Australia humanly can, we insist upon these things happening,'
Abbott told Sydney Radio 2GB on Monday.
'The site is being treated more like a garden cleanup than a forensic investigation, and this is completely unacceptable.'
The Ukrainian government said in a statement on its website that a second train with four refrigerator cars had arrived at Torez station. On Monday morning, four rebels armed with automatic weapons were standing guard around the cars.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country lost 192 citizens on the plane, told a news conference that repatriating the bodies was his 'No. 1 priority.'
He said all efforts were aimed at getting the train with the bodies to 'territory controlled by Ukraine' and that a Dutch military plane was being sent to Kharkiv to set up a coordination center.
On
Monday, three Dutch members with Holland's National Forensic
Investigations Team arrived in Donetsk to join an Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe mission.
Vladimir Putin listens to explanations of TsSKB-Progress Director General Alexander Kirillin as Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin (left) and acting governor of Samara Region Nikolai Merkushkin (right) look on while visiting the Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center, also known as TsSKB-Progress, in Samara, Russia
Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the OSCE, said reports from the group's investigators in Ukraine suggest some bodies were incinerated without a trace.
However, despite the move to reduce tension between Russia and the international community, Putin has ordered troops to move closer to the border with Ukraine, even supplying extra armaments and new multiple rocket systems to rebels.
'We're looking at the field where the engines have come down. This was the area which was exposed to the most intense heat. We do not see any bodies here. It appears that some have been vaporized,' he said from the crash site.
Rebel leader Alexander Borodai denied the rebels were trying to tamper with evidence, saying the bodies would be turned over to a team of Malaysian experts he was expecting.
A group of investigators that
included Malaysian officials was in Kiev, but said they wouldn't go into
rebel-held areas until they get better assurances about security. The
Ukrainian government, which has responsibility for the investigation,
has also asked for help from the International Civil Aviation
Organization - a U.N. body - and Eurocontrol, a European air traffic
safety organization.
Members of Ukraine's emergency services put on protective suits as they prepare to unload newly retrieved bodies into a refrigerated train in Torez
Borodai insisted the rebels have not interfered with the investigation, and said he would turn over the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders - their black boxes - as well.
'The bodies will go nowhere until experts arrive,' Borodai said in the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
But there were clear indications that the rebels were interfering in the investigation.
Lyubov Kudryavets, a worker at the Torez morgue, said that on the evening the plane went down, a resident brought in the bloodied body of a child, about seven or eight years old. On Saturday, militiamen came to take away the body away, she said.
'They began to question me: "Where are the fragments of rocket? Where are the fragments from the plane?"' Ms Kudryavets said. 'But I didn't have any wreckage. ... I swear.'
A member from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and members of a forensic team cover their noses at a railway station in the eastern Ukrainian town
Experts said that even if investigators are granted access now, it might be too late.
'Even without any deliberate attempt at a cover-up, the crash site is already compromised in forensic terms," said Keir Giles, an associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank.
'A reconstruction of the aircraft fuselage and wings would give a picture on how the missile struck and what kind it was. If any aircraft parts have already been removed ... this compromises the objectivity of the investigation.'
Rutte said the Dutch foreign minister was headed to the U.N. to lobby 'to further expand the international coalition pushing for quick recovery of the bodies and getting to the bottom of the terrible events on MH17.'
In the Netherlands, worshippers at church services prayed for the victims, as anger grew over the rebels' hindering of the investigation.
Silene Fredriksz-Hoogzand, whose son, Bryce, and his girlfriend, Daisy Oehlers, were among those killed, said she was appalled their bodies weren't being handed over.
'Mr. Putin, send my children home,' she said, speaking on Sky TV from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. 'Send them home. Please.'
SALE OF AK-47s IN THE U.S. ROCKET AS SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA MANUFACTURERS START TO BITE
Sales of Kalashnikov automatic rifles have rocketed in the U.S. after an import ban was slapped on the company as part of sanctions against Russia's involvement in Ukraine.
Gun retailers said that since the ban came into effect last week there has been a sharp rise in demand with buyers racing to snap up remaining stocks.
The U.S. Department of The Treasury posted a statement on its website saying US citizens are allowed to buy, own, and use Kalashnikovs providing they were imported prior to when the sanctions came into force.
Robert Keller, manager of K-Var Corp., a Las Vegas-based online gun distributor, told CNN: 'We sell some of the Kalashnikov Concern stuff and that has been selling fast.'
Among the weapons produced by the company are the AK-47, the world's most popular gun, and the more advanced AK-74.
A spokesman for Kalashinkov said US consumers were being punished as a result of the ban.
A statement published on Russian new site Pravda read: 'The products of Kalashnikov enjoy great demand in the United States. Preorders on civilian products are three times the annual volume of deliveries. Thus, the sanctions taken against Kalashnikov go against the interests of American consumers.'
The sanctions were put into place before the MH17 disaster, but U.S. and European leaders are now threatening even tighter measures after fingers were pointed at Russia over the downed aircraft and ensuing crisis.
-
Dog showers baby with toys to stop it crying
-
WWE makes on-screen reference to MH17 flight crash
-
Dad dancing that really embarrasses his little daughter
-
New aftermath video of chokehold arrest which left man dead
-
Toddler does spot on impression of mom's pregnant walk
-
Four live cobras appear to actively protect a sleeping baby
-
North Korea 'furious' over viral video mocking Kim Jong Un
-
Dad does little daughter's hair in seconds
-
Putin: MH17 shouldn't be used to achieve selfish political...
-
The moment Sky News presenter rifles through suitcase
-
Moment rebel finds gold ring while rifling through MH17...
-
You won't believe these thieves in dropped wallet experiment
-
Philip Seymour Hoffman leaves his entire $35million fortune...
-
How a year has fluttered by: Prince George's meeting with a...
-
'My son saved his attacker's life': Father who pounded...
-
NYC gives the green light to the building of apartments with...
-
Not tonight dear, I'm too tired, gross, sick or drunk:...
-
Heavily pregnant teen was strangled to death and her...
-
Bill Clinton 'has a busty mistress nicknamed "Energizer" who...
-
Blonde WWE star slammed for using MH17 tragedy as tasteless...
-
Missing New Hampshire girl, 15, safely reunited with her...
-
Explosive new book claims Bill Clinton's steamy phone sex...
-
The moment 'unarmed civilian was shot dead by an Israeli...
-
Witchcraft, white supremacists, meth labs or a family...
Comments (597)
Share what you think
The comments below have not been moderated.
Um....have these protestors forgotten Malaysia has downed an airoplane too. Where is the justice for those victims? Maybe China should put its foot down.
it will tell them lies. the idea the Russians haven't don't have the ability to tamper with it is naive, and they definitely will have done
Are these the two boxes obama said were already in moscow? - Alistair beg, Leatherhead, United Kingdom, 22/07/2014 18:08 Could be to Moscow and back and played with well within the time it's taken to hand them over; stupid stupid comment.
Lets see what the Flight recorders data turns up. Inspectors will know if it has been tampered with. If it has been tampered with what will the International Community do?!!? My bets are nothing. The families of those lost have shown great dignity since this incident occurred. They want answers, we want answers and the World demands the TRUTH.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Bristol Expat now NZ, wellington, New Zealand, 27 minutes ago
And, if there was anything significant on them do you think for one second they would be handing them back? If there were, there wont be any more