MH17: Rebels will ‘guarantee safety’ of crash site monitors if Kyiv agrees truce
The tough terms were set as global anger rose at an increasingly isolated Russia over its perceived failure to pressure the insurgents into opening passage to where the remains of 298 victims whose lives were cut short on Thursday lay scattered in stifling heat along wheat and sunflower fields.
Insurgents who have been in control of Ukraine’s eastern rustbelt since early April had allowed only limited freedom of manoeuver to a 30-member team of monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) who have been trying to assure respectful treatment of the remains since Friday.
Ukraine accuses Russia of helping the gun-toting militias of hiding and destroying vital evidence that could prove their alleged involvement in the downing of the Malaysia Airline Boeing 777 on Thursday afternoon.