Here is another update from our news desk on the arrival of MH17 bodies in Eindhoven:
Two military planes carrying 40 coffins bearing victims of the downed Malaysian airliner have landed in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven.
The planes were met on July 23 by some 1,000 relatives of the victims, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and representatives of the other nations that lost citizens on the flight.
Flags of the 11 nations that lost citizens to the crash flew half-mast at the airport, and a minute's silence was observed in the Netherlands.
The bodies are to be transferred to a military base southeast of Amsterdam, where forensics experts will identify them.
Earlier at a ceremony at Kharkiv airport, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said the downing of the plane was an "inhumane terrorist act" carried out with help from Russia.
(AP, Reuters, AFP)
Italian journo speaks to rebel who was told to look for Ukrainian plane his commander thought they'd shot; found MH17 http://t.co/3hTOghpciE
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) July 23, 2014
RFE/RL's multimedia department has just issued this somber footage of bodies from Flight MH17 arriving in the Netherlands:
Poll: 88% of Russians think Russian-speakers face danger in Ukraine. http://t.co/WuDVYc81x3
— Glenn Kates (@gkates) July 23, 2014
Mark MacKinnon from "The Globe and Mail" has been looking at the awkward situation Russian President Vladimir Putin finds himself in following the downing of MH17:
Mr. Putin is in a trap of his own making following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. He’s unable – even if he were willing – to meet the West’s demands, in large part due to the anti-Western opinion in Russia he and his Kremlin have moulded over 15 years in power.
Having cast the West as Russia’s enemy for so long, and having personally vowed to protect ethnic Russians everywhere, analysts say Mr. Putin would be fiercely criticized at home if he pulled an about-face and abandoned the separatists of the Donetsk People’s Republic under pressure from Washington and London.
Much of the world sees the pro-Russian rebels as the villains of the MH17 saga. But they have been portrayed as heroes – standing up for their right to speak Russian and choose their own course – on Kremlin-run television for the past five months, making it almost impossible for Mr. Putin to desert them now.
“People are still supportive of the government, and they buy into this picture created by Russian TV of a fascist government in Kiev trying to destroy the population of the southeast [of Ukraine], of Novorossiya,” said Sergey Utkin, head of strategic assessment at the Moscow-based Russian Academy of Sciences. "It’s a myth that’s dear to Russian conservatives," he added, "and we have quite a lot of Russian conservatives these days – call them revanchists if you like."
Read the entire article here
Hundreds of people waiting alongside the road for the bodies to leave @eindhoven airport. #MH17 @itvnews pic.twitter.com/63BNuV5zxj
— Daniel Demoustier (@dandemoustier) July 23, 2014
Ukrainian military jets shot down today were fired upon from the RUSSIAN side of the border, Ukrainian official says now at briefing
— Kirit Radia (@KiritRadia) July 23, 2014
More: Ukraine says shots that brought down military planes today were from a “very powerful anti-aircraft system” the rebels don’t possess
— Kirit Radia (@KiritRadia) July 23, 2014
Ukrainian military jets shot down today were fired upon from the RUSSIAN side of the border, Ukrainian official says now at briefing
— Kirit Radia (@KiritRadia) July 23, 2014
Here's the latest daily situational map for eastern Ukraine from the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine:
Вот снимки #российского центра подготовки для сепаратистов вблизи границы с #Украиной. #MH17 pic.twitter.com/VAdx9jg4zV
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) July 23, 2014