September 26, 14:33 UTC+4

The preliminary report, released by the Dutch Safety Board earlier this month, has failed to clarify the circumstances of the crash

http://en.itar-tass.com/world/751421

MOSCOW, September 26. /ITAR-TASS/. The situation over the probe into the MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine is becoming more entangled, as experts have failed to arrive at the scene despite the fact that militias have confirmed plans to provide the necessary conditions, a Russian diplomat said on Friday.

“As for the Malaysian airliner crash, here the situation is becoming more and more entangled and complicated, as the plans which have been repeatedly voiced by those leading the investigation in the Netherlands have not been accomplished,” Russia’s Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Andei Kelin said.

The preliminary report, released by the Dutch Safety Board earlier this month, has failed to clarify the circumstances of the crash and Moscow said its findings, based on information from the aircraft's flight data recorders, pictures and video taken at the scene, are too vague.

“The investigation and the conclusions of the preliminary report were made upon photographs and the experts are not coming to the scene despite the fact that militias are ready to create all the necessary safe conditions for collecting the debris and the investigation with ‘iron in hands’ and not upon photographs,” Kelin said.

“But this does not happen and the OSCE monitors are not carrying out the investigation,” the diplomat added.

The leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) also rejected on Thursday accusations of hampering access of international team to the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine, saying that the works to restore a railway have been completed to aid the probe.

“We have repaired the railway line through the Zaporizhia Region [in southern Ukraine] to allow international inspectors to take out the aircraft debris,” the DPR’s first vice prime minister, Andrei Purgin, said.

The self-defense militia is ready to ensure security of international inspectors at the Boeing crash site, Purgin said, adding however that many mines still remain at the scene.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the Ukrainian government has claimed it wanted to allow the experts’ access to the scene while militia members were not cooperating and were firing artillery.

The Boeing 777-200 of the Malaysia Airlines en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17 in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, some 60 km (over 37 miles) from the Russian border, in the zone of combat operations between the Donetsk self-defense forces and the Ukrainian army. All the passengers and crew members onboard the aircraft - 298 people - died. Most of the passengers - 196 people - were Dutch citizens.

A final report on the results of the investigation into the crash of the Malaysian passenger aircraft in Ukraine is due to be presented next summer.

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Title image is at source.

IZAKOVIC