Unseen pictures taken just minutes after flight MH17 was shot down show burning wreckage
- Stills are taken from footage shown in Russian television documentary
- Russia is again trying to pin the blame on Ukraine for bringing down the jet
- Ukraine and the West accuse pro-Russian forces of shooting it down
New images have emerged of the immediate aftermath of the crash of MH17 in Ukraine, as Dutch officials say they have returned to the scene to recover more items from the wreckage.
The stills are from footage shown on Russia's Channel One which quoted Oleg Vtulkin, a pro-Moscow militia unit commander, saying: 'I arrived about half an hour after the crash. All of this was burning. Bodies lay around. They too were burning.'
The scenes of smoldering wreckage from the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 were shown as Russia again seeks to pin the blame on the Ukrainian army for the downing of the aircraft. All 298 passengers and crew on board the jet perished.
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These stills of the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 are from footage aired on Russia's Channel One
The scenes of smoldering wreckage from the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 were shown as Russia again seeks to pin the blame on the Ukrainian army for the downing of the aircraft
All 298 passengers and crew on board the jet perished when it was brought down on July 17
In commentary on the footage, Vtulkin accuses 'Nazis' - as the Russians frequently label the Ukrainian authorities - of targeting MH17.
'Today, at 1700 on 17 July 2014, a civilian jet [was shot down]. What did the little Nazis not like about it? This is an act of provocation. There are a lot of bodies here.'
State-controlled Channel One cited pro-Kremlin defence analyst Igor Korotchenko saying there was 'no doubt' the air-defence system used to target the plane belonged to the Ukrainian armed forces.
Transport official Roman Gusarov blamed Ukrainian air traffic controllers for directing the flight into the conflict zone in Donetsk region.
Ukraine and the West see the Russian media as engaged in a propaganda offensive to mask what the West says is the role of pro-Moscow rebels in the plane's destruction.
It is believed in Kiev and Western capitals to have been shot down by a BUK missile system located in separatist-held territory.
State-controlled Channel One cited pro-Kremlin defence analyst Igor Korotchenko saying there was 'no doubt' the air-defence system
used to target the plane belonged to the Ukrainian armed forces
Ukraine and the West see the Russian media as engaged in a propaganda offensive to mask what the West says is the role of
pro-Moscow rebels in the plane's destruction
New personal items have been found at the crash site, it was revealed.
'Four Dutch nationals were at the disaster site, as part of an OSCE team,' said a Justice Ministry spokesman in the Netherlands.
'The State Emergency Services managed to recover many personal belongings, nine boxes of a cubic metre each, from the crash site,' said Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, head of the Dutch repatriation mission, on Dutch television.
'(There was) jewellery, watches, credit cards, a driving licence, a passport, an iPad, photos - things that really should be with relatives.'
He revealed that a full-scale search of the site - which crucial evidence may lie as well as human remains and personal items of the dead - may only be possible after the winter.
On Monday there were sporadic exchanges of fire at the scene.
Toys are placed on front of wreckage at the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
Four Dutch police experts visited the crash site on Monday to help recover belongings and human remains
A militant of Donetsk People's Republic carries belongings recovered at the site
Two key sets of talks this week - starting today with a meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov - could determine the future of a fragile ceasefire in Ukraine.
On Friday, Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko will meet face to face.
Moscow announced a pullback of almost 18,000 troops ahead of the sessions, but doubts are being expressed over whether the retreat is real.
Kiev military analyst Dmytro Tymchuk claimed Russia had reduced its frontline forces by 2,000 but this was part of a rotation of forces, not a scaling back.
'There is a rotation of units: the 98th airborne division, the 137th airborne regiment, other units of the 106th airborne division, and the 45th separate special purpose airborne regiment,' he said.
Germany also expressed deep scepticism about the pullback of troops.
'If this announcement and significant withdrawal of Russian troops from the border actually takes place, then this would be a step towards de-escalation,' Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference in Berlin.
'But unfortunately we know from experience that there have been some cases before important international meetings where Russia made announcements which were then not upheld or only partially upheld. Actions alone are what counts.'
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
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