Russian FM Lavrov: "We have no plans to seize the flight recorders" from #MH17 http://t.co/y1lE1PCZjt
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) July 18, 2014
We normally post the English-language version of the "East Situation" map commissioned by the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council's Information-Analytical Center, but since it has been late in coming today, we offer the Ukrainian version:
Here's the latest update from the wires:
Pro-Russian separatists have promised to allow international investigators free access to the site of the crash of a Malaysian passenger plane.
All 298 people on board were killed when the plane crashed on July 17 in the eastern Donetsk region where Ukrainian government troops are fighting the separatists.
The Ukrainian military and the separatists are blaming each other for shooting down the plane with a missile.
The separatists first said the two black boxes recording flight data had been found, but later denied those reports.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said it expected members of its Ukraine monitoring mission to arrive at the crash site later on July 18.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an immediate ceasefire and direct talks between Kyiv and the separatists in the wake of the disaster.
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the Malaysian plane crash later on July 18.
(Reuters, AFP, dpa, and Interfax)
The latest on the nationalaties of the MH17 victims via Reuters. There are likely to be It is still unclear whether there are Americans among the 19 people unaccounted for in this figure, compared with the announced death toll of 298:
Malaysia Airlines said on Friday it had determined the nationalities of all but four of the passengers aboard its flight MH17 which crashed in eastern Ukraine.
The airline's Europe head Huib Gorter said the flight had had 189 Dutch passengers, 29 Malaysian, 27 Australian, 12 Indonesian, nine British, four German, four Belgian, three Filippino, one Canadian and one New Zealander.
The upper house of the Dutch legislature reports that one of its own, Senator Willem Witteveen, along with his wife and daughter were aboard Flight MH17 when it went down, according to Dutch Public Broadcasting's website.
"Senator Willem Witteveen was killed in the plane crash in Ukraine, reports the Senate. Witteveen (62) joined last year as a member of the Senate. From 1999 to 2007 he also was a member of the Senate. From 1990 he was professor of law at the University of Tilburg. "
We're working on a translation but there is another tape from the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) with separatists reportedly discussing obtaining a 'Buk' launcher from Russia and moving it to Donetsk. More on this soon.
This video has been posted to YouTube by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry that it claims shows a launch vehicle for the type of antiaircraft missile system that's being blamed for the Malaysia Airlines downing being transported toward the Russian border. The clip is titled "Fighters withdraw the missile complex 'BUK' to the border with the RF."
The Ministry also issued a statement citing the clip and quoting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov saying the video was shot at 4:50 a.m. local time today with the vehicle in question moving "through Krasnodon in the direction of the border with Russia."
It says two of the uncovered missiles can be seen in place, while there is a space between them where another missile would normally lie.
"This and other pieces of information are now being analyzed. It must have been about the same 'BUK' SAM that shot down the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur civilian aircraft," the minister is quoted as saying.
In the article, Avakov also pledges that a full account will be published after the investigation but adds, "I believe this fragment should be published immediately."
Statement from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly:
OSCE PA President deplores apparent downing of Malaysian Airlines flight
COPENHAGEN, 18 July 2014 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) issued the following statement today on the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine:
“I deplore in the strongest possible terms the apparent downing of a Malaysian Airlines flight near Ukraine’s border with Russia. On behalf of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this horrific tragedy and to the governments whose nationals have perished.
“A swift, thorough, international investigation is needed to determine the exact circumstances of the crash and bring the perpetrators to justice. However, there are already strong indications that a missile launched from rebel-controlled areas may have caused this catastrophe. In that case, there would be no doubt that those responsible for the illicit flow of military hardware and weapons into eastern Ukraine and those who directly or indirectly challenge the Ukrainian government’s authority over its own territory bear the ultimate responsibility. I reiterate my call for an unconditional ceasefire that is respected by all sides and urge the governments in Moscow and Kyiv to do all in their power to immediately de-escalate this situation.”
President Kanerva futher urged the Russian and Ukrainian governments to enlist the OSCE’s full support at this critical time.
On the question of whether or not separatists possessed any antiaircraft systems as advanced as the BUK. Here's an ITAR-TASS English-language story from June 29 in which "Donetsk People's Republic" sources boast of having acquired "a missile defence army unit equipped with Buk missile defence systems."
Here's the link and here's the text of that news item:
Self-defence forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic have taken control over a missile defence army unit equipped with Buk missile defence systems, the press service of the Donetsk People’s Republic told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
So far, no details are available about the number and condition of the missile systems taken over by the self-defence forces. The press service refused to comment.
The Buk missile defence system is a mobile medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system designed to defend field troops and logistics installations against air threats in conditions of heavy electronic countermeasures and intense enemy fire.