Good morning. We will start the live blog today with this update from our news desk:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has stressed that investigators must be given full access to the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine.
The State Department says Kerry made the remark in a phone call on July 19 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Kerry also said the United States is "very concerned" over reports that the remains of victims and debris from the site of the crash on July 17 that killed 298 people have been removed or tampered with.
Kerry said Washington was also concerned over denial of "proper access" to the crash site in eastern Ukraine for monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and international investigators.
Kyiv has accused pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine near the crash site of interfering with the investigation by removing victims' bodies and parts of the airplane.
(AFP, Reuters)
We are now closing our live blog for today. Don't forget that you can keep abreast of all our Ukraine coverage here.
Disturbing signs of coverup activities on MH17 shooting down. But we will not rest until all facts are established. http://t.co/AlBTY9Xiop
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) July 18, 2014
Fragments of someone's life destroyed - a vinyl collection among the sunflowers. #MH17 pic.twitter.com/6SpiRhMb5Y
— Kevin Bishop (@bishopk) July 19, 2014
.@srschrier @CNN finally: militia moved out, apparent Ukr workers moved in. Bodies from #mh17 being loaded onto trucks as is luggage.
— Chris Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) July 19, 2014
Bodies have been collected but then just left by side of road - v hot here #MH17 pic.twitter.com/LeuQzRf0YY
— Will Vernon (@BBCWillVernon) July 19, 2014
If nothing else, #MH17 proves that there are no more far away countries of which we know little. Everything is connected. Europe is small.
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) July 17, 2014
Russia, caught red-handed RT @AntDeRosa: Track Wikipedia edits made by Russian government IPs: @RuGovEdits
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) July 19, 2014
Malaysia Airlines releases the #MH17 manifest listing the 298 passengers killed. http://t.co/l8sX0jiZOy
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 19, 2014
It seems the OSCE observers are still being denied full access to the MH17 crash site (from RFE/RL's news desk):
Armed separatists in eastern Ukraine have for a second day prevented international inspectors from reaching the wreckage of the Malaysian airliner that was shot down on July 17, killing all 298 people.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said its team of monitors was only allowed to visit a part of the field strewn with debris from the airliner.
Separatists on July 18 blocked the inspectors from visiting the crash site.
President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement that he would "not tolerate interference" with the work of international investigators.
Earlier on July 19, Ukraine's government accused separatists of trying to destroy evidence of an international crime "with the help of Russia."
Kyiv also said separatists moved 38 bodies to a morgue in Donetsk.
A rebel commander told the OSCE team on July 19 that separatists did not touch evidence and had not found the plane’s ‘black box’ flight data recordings.
(Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)