Ukraine Says Rebels Destroying Plane Evidence

They're accused of removing bodies, wreckage
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 19, 2014 6:32 AM CDT
Ukraine Says Rebels Destroying Plane Evidence
A doll and other personal effects lie on the ground at the crash site.   (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

The chances of a "credible international investigation" taking place in the aftermath of this week's Malaysian Airlines crash seem to be dwindling by the hour. Ukraine today accused pro-Russian separatists of removing bodies and wreckage from the crash site without proper authorization, reports the BBC. Specifically, it says that men with Russian accents took 38 bodies to a morgue in rebel-held Donetsk and threatened to conduct their own autopsies, and that they were trying to ship pieces of the wreckage to Moscow. The development comes after US intelligence suggested that the plane got shot down with a Russian-supplied missile system fired from rebel territory.

"The government of Ukraine officially states that the terrorists, with the help of Russia, are trying to destroy evidence of international crimes," says the Ukraine statement, as per the Guardian. A team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was to try to return to the crash site today after being allowed to visit for only 75 minutes yesterday and meeting some resistance from rebels, some of whom were believed to be drunk, reports the Wall Street Journal. "The whole world should unite, so as to enter that territory and investigate objectively," says Ukraine's deputy prime minister. (More Malaysia Airlines MH17 stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X