Bodies of victims from Malaysia Airlines flight disaster due to arrive from
Ukraine to Netherlands on Wednesday, as black box handed to British experts
A coffin with the remains of a victim of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is loaded into a Dutch military plane Photo: Dave Hunt/EPA
3:43PM BST 23 Jul 2014
16.05 The International Committee of the Red Cross considers Ukraine to be in a state of civil war, AFP reports.
16.00 Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded the EU impose rapid sanctions
including economic penalties against Russia on Wednesday.
The move underlines Germany’s growing exasperation with President Vladimir
Putin’s failure to investigate the shooting down of flight MH17,
Tony Paterson reports.
Berlin government spokesman Georg Streiter told reporters that Mrs Merkel
considered that rapid EU sanctions against Russia were necessary because
Moscow had shown no interest in investigating the background to the air
disaster.
Government sources said the German leader wanted the initial EU economic
sanctions to be imposed against the first Russian firms on Thursday.
Germany maintains that the Russian secret service agents are running the pro-Russian separatist groups in the Ukraine and that Moscow has failed to use its influence to curb their actions
“We are unable to conclude that the Kremlin is interested in a thorough inquiry, “said Mr Streiter.
A spokeswoman for the Berlin Foreign Ministry added; “ Russia has promised a great deal but failed to deliver”. She said Berlin’s message to Moscow was “ So far but no further”.
15.55 In the statement from the Ukrainian foreign ministry, Kiev says "the jet fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were not in the airspace before, at and immediately after the crash of the Malaysian civilian aircraft".
"Since the start of the CTO, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have never used any anti-aircraft missiles."
15.50 The Dutch Safety Board is also reviewing decision-making processes concerning flight routes and availability of passenger lists, Reuters reports.
15.48 The hearses are now on their way to Hilversum with a police escort.
15.46 AFP is reporting that the missiles that took down two Ukrainian fighter jets in the volatile east of the former Soviet state were fired from Russia, Ukraine's National and Security Council said.
"According to preliminary information, the rockets were launched from Russian territory," the council said in a statement, adding the Su-25 jets were flying at an altitude of 5,200 metres.
15.45 In a statement, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said:
On July 21, search operations at the crash site were fully completed. The
units of the state service on emergencies of Ukraine discovered 282 dead
bodies and 87 fragments that belonged to 16 other bodies.
International experts’ examination of the crash site is complicated by the fact that Russian military experts under the guise of civilians have already inspected the crash area.
15.43 German Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for rapid imposition of sanctions against Russia including economic, reports Tony Paterson in Berlin.
In a statement, the German foreign ministry said: "We've had enough."
15.42 Professor David Royds, a forensic expert from Australia's University of Canberra, said that the victims not immediately killed when flight MH17 would not have suffered, reports Bruno Waterfield.
"Flying at more than 10km above the ground, the mid-air explosion
would have caused the cabin temperature to drop to minus 50C with a sudden
drop of air pressure and loss of oxygen,” he said.
“That extremely cold environment would have rendered the passengers unconscious within seconds. It’s very unlikely the passengers would have suffered, there would have been no time to worry.”
15.38 The bodies continue to be taken to the hearses where they will then go to Hilversum to start the formal identification process.
15.36 The Dutch Safety Board has said its investigators have not been able to visit the crash side because their safety is not guaranteed but the team is investigating whether the aircraft's boxes may have been manipulated, Reuters reports.
15.33 Meanwhile, as the bodies are taken to the hearses, the Dutch Safety Board says it has taken formal charge of the MH17 crash investigation.
According to Reuters an international team of 24 will investigate the crash.
15.27 The first of the 40 bodies has just been placed inside the hearse, ready to take it from Eindoven to Hilversum for identification and eventual repatriation, Harriet Alexander reports.
The sight of the planes coming finally to land was immensely moving. The
planes taxied to a position in front of where the King, Queen, Prime
Minister and relatives were waiting.
We can't see them from here - screens have been put up - but we are told around 1,000 family members are there.
The last post was played and the whole airfield fell silent.
Then the military personnel began carrying the coffins from the planes to the awaiting hearses.
It has been a dignified end to a chaotic and traumatic journey.
15.24 The investigation will be undertaken by individuals from many countries including the UK, Malaysia, The Netherlands and others. Sky News report the families of two British victims are also at Eindhoven airport.
15.17 As the coffins are taken to each hearse, Harriet Alexander reports from Eindhoven airport. The first victim's body has been unloaded onto the hearse.
15.15 The first of the coffins is being carried out and taken towards the hearse.
15.12 The hearses are arriving to take the bodies of the victims one by one to Hilversum.
15.09 The families are kept away from the cameras, and a screen to ensure they can grieve in private, Sky News says.
15.07 There is now a minute's silence after the Last Post was played. Flags fly at half-mast to honour the victims at Eindhoven airport.
15.04 The 40 victims will be taken to Hilversum, a military medical facility, where they will work to formally identify the remains. This is a process which the Dutch PM has said could take weeks or even months.
The UK is sending out nine disaster victim identification personnel to help with the process, according to Sky News.
15.01 Sky News has said more than 1000 relatives are also at the airport to greet the arrival of the bodies, which they have been waiting for for several days.
15.00 Those greeting the arrival of the planes including the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as well as King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.
This is an important moment for the nation which lost 193 of its citizens in the crash last week.
14.58 The Dutch Hercules C-130 plane landed first followed shortly by the Australian Boeing C-17 plane. Five bodies will be carried out at a time from the planes, according to the reports.
14.54 Dignitaries are making their way to the tarmac to take a seat for the last post and there will be a minute's silence at 4pm local time (3pm in the UK).
Trains and planes will stop nationwide before bodies are unloaded and each coffin is put into a hearse - one coffin per car, Harriet Alexander reports.
Bells are rung across The Netherlands and at the airport to remember the victims. Today is a day of national morning in the country.
14.50 The second plane has touched down at the airport, in which there are 24 bodies, according to Sky News.
14.50 One of the planes carrying some of the victims of the plane crash has safely arrived at Eindhoven airport. The second plane is due to arrive very shortly.
There are only 40 bodies on these planes, according to Sky News, and there will be more on their way later in the week.
14.45 Lodewijk Hekking, spokesman for the Ministry of Security and Justice, has just told Harriet Alexander and other reporters at Eindhoven airport that the two planes are currently mid air en route from Ukraine, and are expected to land at 15.50.
They are carrying 40 bodies, whose nationalities are unknown.
There will be a minute's silence at 4pm. Trains and planes will stop nationwide.
The bodies will then be unloaded and each coffin put into a hearse - one coffin per car - to be driven to Hilversum with a police escort around the hearse convoy.
Out on the tarmac, hundreds of cameras await. The flags - representing the countries which lost citizens - are flying at half mast.
14.32 Russia has accused Ukraine of manipulating data held by its air traffic authorities concerning the crash, according to AFP. Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement:
According to the latest information, Ukrainian security forces, without
notifying international organisations, are engaged in some secret work with
the databases and personnel of Ukrainian air traffic services, both military
and civilian.
"That clearly goes against the goal of an objective and unbiased investigation."
Instead of helping the probe into the crash in eastern Ukraine that killed all 298 people on board of the Boeing 777, Kiev is "planting absurd, unfounded accusations against Russia on a daily, hourly basis".
14.24 As tensions and emotions run high in the Netherlands, Pieter Broertjes, the mayor of the city of Hilversum, called for Vladimir Putin's daughter to be deported from the Netherlands this morning, according to the Guardian.
In a radio interview, he said Maria Putin, 29, who lives with her Dutch boyfriend in Voorschoten should be thrown out of the country.
But the mayor apologised on Twitter for his remarks, describing them as "not wise" but said "they stemmed from a feeling of helplessness that many will recognise".
<noframe>Twitter: Pieter Broertjes - Opmerking over dochter Poetin op Radio 1 was niet verstandig. Deze kwam voort uit een gevoel van onmacht dat vele mensen zullen herkennen.</noframe>
It comes after De Telegraaf reported that Ukrainian Twitter users were calling for a peaceful protest where she lived. Putin has two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina, whom the Guardian reports have never been officially photographed as adults.
14.10 Reverse gas flows from the European Union to Ukraine had fallen because of opposition from Russian gas producer Gazprom, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said.
Ukraine - which consumes around 50 billion cubic metres of gas annually - has increased its efforts to secure more gas from the European Union after Gazprom raised prices for its supplies in a dispute.
"Reverse gas supplies are reduced at present. This is linked to certain actions by Gazprom," Prodan told Reuters and other reporters, adding Ukraine first saw a decrease two weeks ago.
14.04 Reuters report the International Committee of the Red Cross said all sides in Ukraine's civil war must protect civilians and take what measures they can to search for those killed on the downed Malaysian airliner and ensure their bodies are returned to their families,
In a statement on Wednesday, the ICRC said international law required warring parties to distinguish between military targets and civilian objects and to protect the civilian population, the wounded, former combatants and detainees.
"These rules and principles apply to all parties to the non-international armed conflict in Ukraine, and impose restrictions on the means and methods of warfare that they may use," ICRC director of operations Dominik Stilhart said.
14.02 The EU should not give Russia technical help to develop Arctic oil and gas fields if Moscow does not help to defuse the Ukraine crisis, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said, according to Reuters. At a news conference he said:
"If they don't try for peace in the east of Ukraine ... If they don't
decisively try to do something to prevent escalation, then there is no
reason for us to help promote the growth of their industry and develop new
resources for gas and oil and therefore to put this equipment on the list of
sanctions.
"The Russians see offshore oil and gas in the Arctic, for example, as a good potential for the future. But this can only be developed by hardware and software from the West, by drills and ... equipment that their industry cannot supply."
13.49 Pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets in eastern Ukraine today just days after the downing of Flight MH17, a Ukrainian military spokesman told AFP.
"Two Sukhoi Ukrainian fighter jets have been shot down. The fate of the pilots is not known," spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky said, adding the planes were brought down some 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the crash site of MH17.
But a second military spokesman said the jets had been downed at a different location by rockets fired by insurgents. The two pilots managed to parachute out, he said.
"Today in the south of the Lugansk region close to the village of Dmytrivka, pro-Russian fighters shot two Su-25 jets from a missile system," spokesman Vladislav Seleznev said.
"The pilots took evasive action ... but the planes were hit," he said.
13.46 In a sign of how far Germany's approach to sanctions has shifted since the downing of MH17, Justin Huggler reports on what German politicians have said recently.
"The economic view is not the decisive factor," Angela Merkel's
vice-chancellor and economics minister Sigmar Gabriel said.
Until now Germany has been wary of the effect harsher sanctions against Russia may have on its own economy.
Mr Gabriel said he now expects tougher sanctions to be imposed, and that the Russian economy will "be affected to a much greater extent than the European".
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports it is possible even major Russian energy companies like Gazprom, which supplies around 25 per cent of the EU's gas, could be targeted by new sanctions.
"The Europeans are running late and have almost created a vacuum," said the chairman of the Budestag's foreign affairs committee, Norbert Röttgen.
13.44 Linda Wouters, from Eindhoven, had organised a collection among her colleagues at an office delivery firm to buy a large bouquet for the site.
"I'm a very emotional person and I've been feeling so sad about this tragedy," she said.
"This feels like the right thing to do.
13.40 More from Harriet Alexander at Eindhoven airport where one woman laid flowers in memory of her boyfriend's aunt, Ninik Yuriane, who died in the crash.
"She was always laughing," she said, after laying a single pink
rose by the entrance to the base.
Mrs Yuriane, 75, was flying to Kuala Lumpur to visit her mother, who lived in Asia.
"She was very kind, very sweet. She was very loved."
And she said that the ceremony, to be held at 4pm today with the King and Queen, was welcomed.
"It's good to know that we're not alone," she said.
13.30 Harriet Alexander has spoken to individuals laying floral tributes at Eindhoven airport in memory of those killed in the crash and where the bodies are due to arrive at 4pm local time.
Outside the gates of Eindhoven airport, beneath an old military display
plane painted in the Dutch colours, people had begun laying piles of
flowers.
"It was the only thing I could think of doing to show my sympathy and support," said Lisette Kaptein, 42, from Eindhoven.
"I travel a lot too, and so this could easily have been me."
13.25 Leading German politicians have called for Russia to be stripped of hosting the next football World Cup in response to the shooting down of Flight MH17, reports Justin Huggler in Berlin.
Russia is due to host the Fifa World Cup in 2018, but in the home of reigning
world champions Germany there are growing calls for the competition to be
moved as punishment for Vladimir Putin’s role in the downing of the
airliner.
“If President Putin doesn’t back down and continues to fuel the crisis, the taboo must end on removing the World Cup from Russia in 2018,” the domestic policy spokesman of Angela Merkel’s CDU party group in parliament, Stephan Mayer, said.
The party group’s vice-chairman, Michael Fuchs, suggested the competition could be held jointly in Germany, France and Italy instead.
“If Putin does not become actively involved in the investigation of the plane crash, the Football World Cup 2018 in Russia is unimaginable,” said Peter Beuth, the Hesse interior minister, who chairs the conference of sports ministers from Germany’s various states.
“Firstly, the safety of players and fans cannot be gauranteed” in Russia, said Bernd Fabritius, an MP. “And secondly, a country that behaves like a rogue state should not be rewarded with such an international media event.”
13.09 Germany’s press has reacted furiously to EU leaders’ failure to announce tough sanctions on Russia yesterday – quite a role reversal from the country that only a few months ago was seen as chief opponent of harsher measures against Vladimir Putin, reports Justin Huggler in Berlin.
“Is the EU only for outrageous inaction?” the mass-market tabloid Bild asks in
its headline, adding “A Russian rocket kills 298 people – yet the EU bows to
Putin”.
“Outrage yes, no consequences” is the headline on Spiegel’s website.
Süddeustche Zeitung runs a scathing comment piece headlines “Threaten, threaten, but do nothing”, which lambasts French president Francois Hollande for going ahead with the sale of a Mistral warship to Russia: “The French president makes his country ridiculous and the EU with it”.
12.55 The jets were Sukhoi-25 fighters, and were shot down at 1.30pm local time (11.30am UK) on Wednesday, according to Ukraine's defence ministry.
The planes are believed to have been carrying up to two crew members each, according to defence ministry spokesman Oleksiy Dmitrashkovsky.
12.46 Pro-Russian rebels have shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets, according to a Ukrainian military spokesman.
The two planes were down near Savur Moglia in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Savur Moglia is in the Shakhtars'k region, east of the city of Donetsk.
12.33 Two Ukrainian fighter jets have reportedly been shot down in the east of Ukraine, according to military sources. More details to follow
12.10 More details on the black boxes' arrival in the UK from AFP:
AAIB experts were set to go through the information from the cockpit voice
recorder, which should give them hours of pilots' conversations, as well as
study the contents of the flight data recorder.
It is thought the AAIB will be able to send details of their findings to the Dutch authorities within 24 hours - giving experts in the Netherlands further information about the doomed Boeing 777 jet's last moments.
11.30 The first plane to leave Kharkiv this morning carried 16 coffins. A second transporter will carry a further 24 later this afternoon. Dutch officials have said the transfer of victims' bodies to the Netherlands may not be complete until Friday.
Four coffins with the remains of victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 are carried to a military plane in Kharkiv (EPA)
11.19 Boris Johnson has responded to criticism over a £160,000 tennis match paid for by the wife of Russian billionaire, a former finance minister of Vladimir Putin.
Georgia Graham reports:
Boris Johnson and David Cameron will pull out of the match with the Russian
“geezer” if he turns out to be one of Vladimir Putin’s cronies, Mr Johnson
has pledged.
Labour have demanded that the Conservative party return thousands of pounds in donations from Russian oligarchs.
They have questioned the Prime Minister’s intention to go ahead with the match, auctioned off to the wife of Vladimir Chernukhin, Vladimir Putin’s former deputy finance minister.
Mr Johnson told Sky News: ““I think you’ve got to do stuff that actually hits Putin and his government where it hurts, make a real difference to their attitude.
“They have volunteered me to play tennis with some geezer and it is very, very important that full checks are carried out to make sure that this is not somebody who is an intimate of Putin or a crony, and we are doing that at the moment.”
The criticism comes amid calls for tougher sanctions on Russia following the MH17 disaster, especially Vladimir Putin's "cronies" and "oligarchs", from the prime minister (see 10.47).
Moscow has been blamed for arming pro-Russian separatists who are thought to have shot down the plane.
11.08 Ben Farmer has filed this dispatch from Kharkiv airport, where the first 16 coffins have been loaded onto the first flight home.
A second plane is expected to follow shortly:
After days of chaos and disrespect for the victims of flight MH17, at last
a moment of dignity.
Carried on the shoulders of an honour guard of Ukrainian troops, four plain coffins were symbolically loaded onto a Dutch military Hercules transporter for another leg of the long journey to their families.
The bodies of the Malaysia Airlines crash have faced neglect, disrespect and even reportedly looting, but this morning the Ukrainian government was determined to give them a dignified ceremony.
Four coffins with the remains of victima of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 are carried to a military plane during a ceremony on the airport of Kharkiv, Ukraine (DAVE HUNT/EPA)
“I am not sure if the people who fired the missile know anything about dignity or the cost of human life,” Volodymyr Groysman, the country’s deputy prime minister told a small crowd at Kharkiv airport.
The 298 passengers and crew killed on the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur flight had been “dreaming about their holiday destinations, but the flight was downed in peacetime over the territory of Ukraine,” he said.
“I am absolutely sure and I want to assure you we will do everything we can in order to find those responsible.
“Sharing our common grief, we absolutely assure you that those people guilty of this terrorist act will be punished.”
Mr Groysman spoke on the tarmac of Kharkiv airport as representatives and ambassadors from the affected nations, including Holland, Malaysia, Australia and Britain, watched the first remains loaded onto the aircraft.
Full dispatch: First bodies of victims flown to Netherlands
10.55 Ministers have been kept in the dark about arms sales to dictatorships, a new parliamentary report has found as it emerged that hundreds of weapons shipments to Russians were approved by the Government despite an embargo in the wake of the Crimean annexation. Matthew Holehouse reports:
A report by MPs found that of 285 export licences to Russia, worth a total
of £131 million, just 34 have been cancelled under a promise by William
Hague in March to end any licences that could be used by the Russian
military or state agencies to destabilise Ukraine.
Downing Street insisted that none of the remaining licences permitted exports to the Russian military, and said they could include sporting rifles.
The cancelled licences included air-to-air missiles and warship components.
But the licences that British manufacturers and brokers were allowed to keep included weapons sights, sniper rifles, bomb-proof suits, unmanned aerial vehicles, military helicopter components and cryptographic equipment, the MPs claimed.
A shipment of surface to air missile components that was not cancelled was destined for the Brazilian navy that has permission to dock in Russian ports, the Department for Business said.
10.47 David Cameron has dismissed criticism that the sanctions agreed by EU leaders yesterday were too soft, saying that they have already damaged the Russian economy. The Telegraph's Steven Swinford reports:
Speaking in Scotland, Mr Cameron said: "There was some progress made in
terms of identifying more of the cronies and oligarchs that need to have
travel bans and asset freezes put on them. It does affect him [Putin]
directly.
"The effect of the sanctions has cut the Russian growth rate from 3 per cent to almost zero per cent. It has seen a reduction in the Russian stock market, a reduction in the rouble. The pressure is telling but we need to do more."
He said that Europe made "good progress" in Brussels yesterday. He said: "I think we have made some good progress. The sanctions are really in respect of the broader picture which it to me what caused the downing of this jet was - the fact Russians were allowing weapons and support to the separatists in the Ukraine. They were denying the integrity of a modern European state. I don't think Europe can stand idly by."
10.28 The black boxes from MH17 have been delivered to Britain for expert analysis, the UK government has said. AFP reports:
The recorders have been delivered to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch
headquarters in Farnborough, southwest of London.
"We can confirm that the two black boxes from MH17 have been delivered by the Dutch Safety Board to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch at Farnborough for download," a Department for Transport spokeswoman told AFP.
10.06 Bill Clinton has paid tribute to the HIV researchers and campaigners who died aboard MH17, telling a global AIDS summit in Australia that the world must take a firm stand against those responsible. Jonathan Pearlman reports:
The former United States president painted a stark contrast between the
brutality of those who attacked the Malaysia Airlines plane and the
pioneering work of AIDS researcher Joep Lange and his wife and four other
campaigners who were aboard.
"He [Dr Lange] and the five other colleagues we lost lived lives which are overpowering in their contribution to a shared future," Mr Clinton told the summit in Melbourne.
"Those who shot them down and who provided the means to do so represent the other side in our struggle to define the terms of our interdependence: the open hand against the clenched fist, inclusive politics and economics versus division and dominance, cooperation against control, life against death."
09.47 Latest from Harriet Alexander in Holland:
Dutch media is now saying that only 40-50 bodies of victims in total will
be returned to the Netherlands today. There were 298 people on board,
including 198 Dutch passengers .
Earlier today we thought around 60 Dutch bodies would be returned home this afternoon.
09.22 As reported in this morning's Telegraph, Russian oligarchs have begun shifting assets out of London as sanctions loom over MH17. Peter Dominiczak and Matthew Holehouse report:
Russian oligarchs are moving money out of London following threats of tough
financial sanctions in the wake of the attack on Flight MH17, Downing Street
has said.
Allies of Vladimir Putin are understood to be reacting after British demands to punish the Russian president’s “cronies”.
The European Union on Tuesday agreed to draw up a list of Russians who will face sanctions following the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane, which killed 298 people.
No 10 refused to say which oligarchs were being targeted because of the risk of “asset flight”.
Full report: Russian oligarchs shift assets out of London as sanctions loom
09.10 Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf carries a striking image of the wreckage on its front page, with the headline: "This is the proof".
The article says that the plane was shot down by a Russian-made missile.
De Volkskrant's front page shows the Australian Boeing C-17 in Eindhoven, preparing to fly to Kharkiv to bring the bodies back. The headline simply reads: "National day of mourning"
08.55 Ben Farmer has arrived at Kharkiv airport, where the British ambassador to the Ukraine is present to see off the victims' bodies on their flight to the Netherlands:
British embassy officials, including the ambassador, Simon Smith, are at
the airport.
He said he had "enormous respect for the families and their understanding that this is an extremely difficult operation that requires an awful lot of different nations coming together".
He said no British relatives had made the journey to Kharkiv to meet the bodies.
A British forensic expert is expected to accompany the first flight, a C130 Hercules, when it flies to Eindhoven.
British officials will also be in the Dutch City to meet it.
People load coffins carrying some of remains of Malaysia Airlines MH17 victims to a transport plane at Kharkiv airport (GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS)
08.25 While events progress on the ground in Ukraine, the EU prepares to continue discussions over sanctions against Russia today. This follows yesterday's agreement of "concrete proposals" to draw up a list of individuals close to Vladimir Putin to be targeted.
The Press Association reports:
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed "concrete proposals"
to draw up a list of the Russian president's associates who would be subject
to punitive measures, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said.
The first names will be considered at a meeting tomorrow, where ministers will also look at broader sanctions such as arms embargoes and access to capital and hi-tech goods.
Mr Cameron has openly criticised a "reluctance" on the part of some European nations to take stronger action against Moscow, saying it would be "unthinkable" in the UK to go ahead with a French deal to sell helicopter carriers to Russia.
But MPs have warned that Britain is itself continuing to export tens of millions of pounds worth of arms and other dual-use military equipment to Russia.
The Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls said that 251 export licences for the sale to Russia of controlled goods worth at least £132 million remained in force.
Despite a promise in March by the then foreign secretary William Hague to stop military sales to Russia which could be used against Ukraine, it said that just 31 licences had been revoked or suspended while Russia had been removed as a permitted destination on three others.
08.10 Ben Farmer reports that the first bodies have now arrived at Kharkiv airport, where an honour guard is forming up to greet them:
A refrigerated truck, believed to be full off bodies, left the Malyshev
factory in Kharkiv at around 9.30am [7.30am UK time].
The truck made the short journey to the nearby airport under police escort and accompanied by Dutch investigators.
An honour guard of Ukrainian military personnel in blue uniforms with gold braid is forming up in one of the airport's hangars.
07.52 Harriet Alexander is in the Netherlands this morning, where the victims's bodies are due to arrive this afternoon at Eindhoven:
Today has been declared a national day of mourning in the Netherlands -
the first since 1962, when Queen Wilhelmina died.
At 4pm local time we are expecting the first plane carrying bodies of the crash victims to arrive at Eindhoven - where King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte will be waiting.
We're told the bells will be rung across the country as the plane touches down.
The bodies will then be taken with a police escort to Hilversum, 100km away, where the identification process will be carried out.
We're hearing that 66 of the 198 Dutch victims have been identified and will be landing today.
07.37 The Telegraph's defence correspondent Ben Farmer is in Kharkiv, where the first truck of bodies has left the tank plant at which they were stored overnight, and is now being driven with a police escort through the city, presumably to the airport:
<noframe>Twitter: Ben Farmer - Large refrigerated trucks arriving at Kharkiv's Malyshev factory where bodies stayed last night. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23MH17" target="_blank">#MH17</a> <a href="http://t.co/pm2l6ICPMd" target="_blank">http://t.co/pm2l6ICPMd</a></noframe>
07.15 Overnight, US intelligence found that there was no direct link to Kremlin in plane downing although senior US intelligence officials maintained that Russia was responsible for "creating the conditions" that led to the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
The intelligence officials were cautious in their assessment, noting that
while the Russians have been arming separatists in eastern Ukraine, the U.S.
had no direct evidence that the missile used to shoot down the passenger jet
came from Russia.
The officials briefed reporters on Tuesday under ground rules that their names not be used in discussing intelligence related to last week's air disaster, which killed 298 people.
The plane was likely shot down by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the intelligence officials said, citing intercepts, satellite photos and social media postings by separatists, some of which have been authenticated by U.S. experts.
But the officials said they did not know who fired the missile or whether any Russian operatives were present at the missile launch. They were not certain that the missile crew was trained in Russia, although they described a stepped-up campaign in recent weeks by Russia to arm and train the rebels, which they say has continued even after the downing of the commercial jetliner.
In terms of who fired the missile, "we don't know a name, we don't know a rank and we're not even 100 percent sure of a nationality," one official said, adding at another point, "There is not going to be a Perry Mason moment here," a referenc to a fictional detective who solved mysteries.
The train carrying the 280 bodies recovered from MH17 arrives in Kharkiv on July 22, 2014(AFP/GETTY)
07.00 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the ongoing MH17 disaster. Today, the bodies of 282 of the victims are finally arriving in the Netherlands to undergo detailed identification and forensic examination.
Germany maintains that the Russian secret service agents are running the pro-Russian separatist groups in the Ukraine and that Moscow has failed to use its influence to curb their actions
“We are unable to conclude that the Kremlin is interested in a thorough inquiry, “said Mr Streiter.
A spokeswoman for the Berlin Foreign Ministry added; “ Russia has promised a great deal but failed to deliver”. She said Berlin’s message to Moscow was “ So far but no further”.
15.55 In the statement from the Ukrainian foreign ministry, Kiev says "the jet fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were not in the airspace before, at and immediately after the crash of the Malaysian civilian aircraft".
"Since the start of the CTO, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have never used any anti-aircraft missiles."
15.50 The Dutch Safety Board is also reviewing decision-making processes concerning flight routes and availability of passenger lists, Reuters reports.
15.48 The hearses are now on their way to Hilversum with a police escort.
15.46 AFP is reporting that the missiles that took down two Ukrainian fighter jets in the volatile east of the former Soviet state were fired from Russia, Ukraine's National and Security Council said.
"According to preliminary information, the rockets were launched from Russian territory," the council said in a statement, adding the Su-25 jets were flying at an altitude of 5,200 metres.
15.45 In a statement, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said:
On July 21, search operations at the crash site were fully completed. The
units of the state service on emergencies of Ukraine discovered 282 dead
bodies and 87 fragments that belonged to 16 other bodies.
International experts’ examination of the crash site is complicated by the fact that Russian military experts under the guise of civilians have already inspected the crash area.
15.43 German Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for rapid imposition of sanctions against Russia including economic, reports Tony Paterson in Berlin.
In a statement, the German foreign ministry said: "We've had enough."
15.42 Professor David Royds, a forensic expert from Australia's University of Canberra, said that the victims not immediately killed when flight MH17 would not have suffered, reports Bruno Waterfield.
"Flying at more than 10km above the ground, the mid-air explosion
would have caused the cabin temperature to drop to minus 50C with a sudden
drop of air pressure and loss of oxygen,” he said.
“That extremely cold environment would have rendered the passengers unconscious within seconds. It’s very unlikely the passengers would have suffered, there would have been no time to worry.”
15.38 The bodies continue to be taken to the hearses where they will then go to Hilversum to start the formal identification process.
15.36 The Dutch Safety Board has said its investigators have not been able to visit the crash side because their safety is not guaranteed but the team is investigating whether the aircraft's boxes may have been manipulated, Reuters reports.
15.33 Meanwhile, as the bodies are taken to the hearses, the Dutch Safety Board says it has taken formal charge of the MH17 crash investigation.
According to Reuters an international team of 24 will investigate the crash.
15.27 The first of the 40 bodies has just been placed inside the hearse, ready to take it from Eindoven to Hilversum for identification and eventual repatriation, Harriet Alexander reports.
The sight of the planes coming finally to land was immensely moving. The
planes taxied to a position in front of where the King, Queen, Prime
Minister and relatives were waiting.
We can't see them from here - screens have been put up - but we are told around 1,000 family members are there.
The last post was played and the whole airfield fell silent.
Then the military personnel began carrying the coffins from the planes to the awaiting hearses.
It has been a dignified end to a chaotic and traumatic journey.
15.24 The investigation will be undertaken by individuals from many countries including the UK, Malaysia, The Netherlands and others. Sky News report the families of two British victims are also at Eindhoven airport.
15.17 As the coffins are taken to each hearse, Harriet Alexander reports from Eindhoven airport. The first victim's body has been unloaded onto the hearse.
15.15 The first of the coffins is being carried out and taken towards the hearse.
15.12 The hearses are arriving to take the bodies of the victims one by one to Hilversum.
15.09 The families are kept away from the cameras, and a screen to ensure they can grieve in private, Sky News says.
15.07 There is now a minute's silence after the Last Post was played. Flags fly at half-mast to honour the victims at Eindhoven airport.
15.04 The 40 victims will be taken to Hilversum, a military medical facility, where they will work to formally identify the remains. This is a process which the Dutch PM has said could take weeks or even months.
The UK is sending out nine disaster victim identification personnel to help with the process, according to Sky News.
15.01 Sky News has said more than 1000 relatives are also at the airport to greet the arrival of the bodies, which they have been waiting for for several days.
15.00 Those greeting the arrival of the planes including the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as well as King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.
This is an important moment for the nation which lost 193 of its citizens in the crash last week.
14.58 The Dutch Hercules C-130 plane landed first followed shortly by the Australian Boeing C-17 plane. Five bodies will be carried out at a time from the planes, according to the reports.
14.54 Dignitaries are making their way to the tarmac to take a seat for the last post and there will be a minute's silence at 4pm local time (3pm in the UK).
Trains and planes will stop nationwide before bodies are unloaded and each coffin is put into a hearse - one coffin per car, Harriet Alexander reports.
Bells are rung across The Netherlands and at the airport to remember the victims. Today is a day of national morning in the country.
14.50 The second plane has touched down at the airport, in which there are 24 bodies, according to Sky News.
14.50 One of the planes carrying some of the victims of the plane crash has safely arrived at Eindhoven airport. The second plane is due to arrive very shortly.
There are only 40 bodies on these planes, according to Sky News, and there will be more on their way later in the week.
14.45 Lodewijk Hekking, spokesman for the Ministry of Security and Justice, has just told Harriet Alexander and other reporters at Eindhoven airport that the two planes are currently mid air en route from Ukraine, and are expected to land at 15.50.
They are carrying 40 bodies, whose nationalities are unknown.
There will be a minute's silence at 4pm. Trains and planes will stop nationwide.
The bodies will then be unloaded and each coffin put into a hearse - one coffin per car - to be driven to Hilversum with a police escort around the hearse convoy.
Out on the tarmac, hundreds of cameras await. The flags - representing the countries which lost citizens - are flying at half mast.
14.32 Russia has accused Ukraine of manipulating data held by its air traffic authorities concerning the crash, according to AFP. Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement:
According to the latest information, Ukrainian security forces, without
notifying international organisations, are engaged in some secret work with
the databases and personnel of Ukrainian air traffic services, both military
and civilian.
"That clearly goes against the goal of an objective and unbiased investigation."
Instead of helping the probe into the crash in eastern Ukraine that killed all 298 people on board of the Boeing 777, Kiev is "planting absurd, unfounded accusations against Russia on a daily, hourly basis".
14.24 As tensions and emotions run high in the Netherlands, Pieter Broertjes, the mayor of the city of Hilversum, called for Vladimir Putin's daughter to be deported from the Netherlands this morning, according to the Guardian.
In a radio interview, he said Maria Putin, 29, who lives with her Dutch boyfriend in Voorschoten should be thrown out of the country.
But the mayor apologised on Twitter for his remarks, describing them as "not wise" but said "they stemmed from a feeling of helplessness that many will recognise".
<noframe>Twitter: Pieter Broertjes - Opmerking over dochter Poetin op Radio 1 was niet verstandig. Deze kwam voort uit een gevoel van onmacht dat vele mensen zullen herkennen.</noframe>
It comes after De Telegraaf reported that Ukrainian Twitter users were calling for a peaceful protest where she lived. Putin has two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina, whom the Guardian reports have never been officially photographed as adults.
14.10 Reverse gas flows from the European Union to Ukraine had fallen because of opposition from Russian gas producer Gazprom, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said.
Ukraine - which consumes around 50 billion cubic metres of gas annually - has increased its efforts to secure more gas from the European Union after Gazprom raised prices for its supplies in a dispute.
"Reverse gas supplies are reduced at present. This is linked to certain actions by Gazprom," Prodan told Reuters and other reporters, adding Ukraine first saw a decrease two weeks ago.
14.04 Reuters report the International Committee of the Red Cross said all sides in Ukraine's civil war must protect civilians and take what measures they can to search for those killed on the downed Malaysian airliner and ensure their bodies are returned to their families,
In a statement on Wednesday, the ICRC said international law required warring parties to distinguish between military targets and civilian objects and to protect the civilian population, the wounded, former combatants and detainees.
"These rules and principles apply to all parties to the non-international armed conflict in Ukraine, and impose restrictions on the means and methods of warfare that they may use," ICRC director of operations Dominik Stilhart said.
14.02 The EU should not give Russia technical help to develop Arctic oil and gas fields if Moscow does not help to defuse the Ukraine crisis, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said, according to Reuters. At a news conference he said:
"If they don't try for peace in the east of Ukraine ... If they don't
decisively try to do something to prevent escalation, then there is no
reason for us to help promote the growth of their industry and develop new
resources for gas and oil and therefore to put this equipment on the list of
sanctions.
"The Russians see offshore oil and gas in the Arctic, for example, as a good potential for the future. But this can only be developed by hardware and software from the West, by drills and ... equipment that their industry cannot supply."
13.49 Pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets in eastern Ukraine today just days after the downing of Flight MH17, a Ukrainian military spokesman told AFP.
"Two Sukhoi Ukrainian fighter jets have been shot down. The fate of the pilots is not known," spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky said, adding the planes were brought down some 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the crash site of MH17.
But a second military spokesman said the jets had been downed at a different location by rockets fired by insurgents. The two pilots managed to parachute out, he said.
"Today in the south of the Lugansk region close to the village of Dmytrivka, pro-Russian fighters shot two Su-25 jets from a missile system," spokesman Vladislav Seleznev said.
"The pilots took evasive action ... but the planes were hit," he said.
13.46 In a sign of how far Germany's approach to sanctions has shifted since the downing of MH17, Justin Huggler reports on what German politicians have said recently.
"The economic view is not the decisive factor," Angela Merkel's
vice-chancellor and economics minister Sigmar Gabriel said.
Until now Germany has been wary of the effect harsher sanctions against Russia may have on its own economy.
Mr Gabriel said he now expects tougher sanctions to be imposed, and that the Russian economy will "be affected to a much greater extent than the European".
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports it is possible even major Russian energy companies like Gazprom, which supplies around 25 per cent of the EU's gas, could be targeted by new sanctions.
"The Europeans are running late and have almost created a vacuum," said the chairman of the Budestag's foreign affairs committee, Norbert Röttgen.
13.44 Linda Wouters, from Eindhoven, had organised a collection among her colleagues at an office delivery firm to buy a large bouquet for the site.
"I'm a very emotional person and I've been feeling so sad about this tragedy," she said.
"This feels like the right thing to do.
13.40 More from Harriet Alexander at Eindhoven airport where one woman laid flowers in memory of her boyfriend's aunt, Ninik Yuriane, who died in the crash.
"She was always laughing," she said, after laying a single pink
rose by the entrance to the base. Mrs Yuriane, 75, was flying to Kuala Lumpur to visit her mother, who lived in Asia.
"She was very kind, very sweet. She was very loved."
And she said that the ceremony, to be held at 4pm today with the King and Queen, was welcomed.
"It's good to know that we're not alone," she said.
13.30 Harriet Alexander has spoken to individuals laying floral tributes at Eindhoven airport in memory of those killed in the crash and where the bodies are due to arrive at 4pm local time.
Outside the gates of Eindhoven airport, beneath an old military display
plane painted in the Dutch colours, people had begun laying piles of
flowers.
"It was the only thing I could think of doing to show my sympathy and support," said Lisette Kaptein, 42, from Eindhoven.
"I travel a lot too, and so this could easily have been me."
13.25 Leading German politicians have called for Russia to be stripped of hosting the next football World Cup in response to the shooting down of Flight MH17, reports Justin Huggler in Berlin.
Russia is due to host the Fifa World Cup in 2018, but in the home of reigning
world champions Germany there are growing calls for the competition to be
moved as punishment for Vladimir Putin’s role in the downing of the
airliner.
“If President Putin doesn’t back down and continues to fuel the crisis, the taboo must end on removing the World Cup from Russia in 2018,” the domestic policy spokesman of Angela Merkel’s CDU party group in parliament, Stephan Mayer, said.
The party group’s vice-chairman, Michael Fuchs, suggested the competition could be held jointly in Germany, France and Italy instead.
“If Putin does not become actively involved in the investigation of the plane crash, the Football World Cup 2018 in Russia is unimaginable,” said Peter Beuth, the Hesse interior minister, who chairs the conference of sports ministers from Germany’s various states.
“Firstly, the safety of players and fans cannot be gauranteed” in Russia, said Bernd Fabritius, an MP. “And secondly, a country that behaves like a rogue state should not be rewarded with such an international media event.”
13.09 Germany’s press has reacted furiously to EU leaders’ failure to announce tough sanctions on Russia yesterday – quite a role reversal from the country that only a few months ago was seen as chief opponent of harsher measures against Vladimir Putin, reports Justin Huggler in Berlin.
“Is the EU only for outrageous inaction?” the mass-market tabloid Bild asks in
its headline, adding “A Russian rocket kills 298 people – yet the EU bows to
Putin”.
“Outrage yes, no consequences” is the headline on Spiegel’s website.
Süddeustche Zeitung runs a scathing comment piece headlines “Threaten, threaten, but do nothing”, which lambasts French president Francois Hollande for going ahead with the sale of a Mistral warship to Russia: “The French president makes his country ridiculous and the EU with it”.
12.55 The jets were Sukhoi-25 fighters, and were shot down at 1.30pm local time (11.30am UK) on Wednesday, according to Ukraine's defence ministry.
The planes are believed to have been carrying up to two crew members each, according to defence ministry spokesman Oleksiy Dmitrashkovsky.
12.46 Pro-Russian rebels have shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets, according to a Ukrainian military spokesman.
The two planes were down near Savur Moglia in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Savur Moglia is in the Shakhtars'k region, east of the city of Donetsk.
12.33 Two Ukrainian fighter jets have reportedly been shot down in the east of Ukraine, according to military sources. More details to follow
12.10 More details on the black boxes' arrival in the UK from AFP:
AAIB experts were set to go through the information from the cockpit voice
recorder, which should give them hours of pilots' conversations, as well as
study the contents of the flight data recorder.
It is thought the AAIB will be able to send details of their findings to the Dutch authorities within 24 hours - giving experts in the Netherlands further information about the doomed Boeing 777 jet's last moments.
11.30 The first plane to leave Kharkiv this morning carried 16 coffins. A second transporter will carry a further 24 later this afternoon. Dutch officials have said the transfer of victims' bodies to the Netherlands may not be complete until Friday.
Four coffins with the remains of victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 are carried to a military plane in Kharkiv (EPA)
11.19 Boris Johnson has responded to criticism over a £160,000 tennis match paid for by the wife of Russian billionaire, a former finance minister of Vladimir Putin.
Georgia Graham reports:
Boris Johnson and David Cameron will pull out of the match with the Russian
“geezer” if he turns out to be one of Vladimir Putin’s cronies, Mr Johnson
has pledged.
Labour have demanded that the Conservative party return thousands of pounds in donations from Russian oligarchs.
They have questioned the Prime Minister’s intention to go ahead with the match, auctioned off to the wife of Vladimir Chernukhin, Vladimir Putin’s former deputy finance minister.
Mr Johnson told Sky News: ““I think you’ve got to do stuff that actually hits Putin and his government where it hurts, make a real difference to their attitude.
“They have volunteered me to play tennis with some geezer and it is very, very important that full checks are carried out to make sure that this is not somebody who is an intimate of Putin or a crony, and we are doing that at the moment.”
The criticism comes amid calls for tougher sanctions on Russia following the MH17 disaster, especially Vladimir Putin's "cronies" and "oligarchs", from the prime minister (see 10.47).
Moscow has been blamed for arming pro-Russian separatists who are thought to have shot down the plane.
11.08 Ben Farmer has filed this dispatch from Kharkiv airport, where the first 16 coffins have been loaded onto the first flight home.
A second plane is expected to follow shortly:
After days of chaos and disrespect for the victims of flight MH17, at last
a moment of dignity.
Carried on the shoulders of an honour guard of Ukrainian troops, four plain coffins were symbolically loaded onto a Dutch military Hercules transporter for another leg of the long journey to their families.
The bodies of the Malaysia Airlines crash have faced neglect, disrespect and even reportedly looting, but this morning the Ukrainian government was determined to give them a dignified ceremony.
Four coffins with the remains of victima of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 are carried to a military plane during a ceremony on the airport of Kharkiv, Ukraine (DAVE HUNT/EPA)
“I am not sure if the people who fired the missile know anything about dignity or the cost of human life,” Volodymyr Groysman, the country’s deputy prime minister told a small crowd at Kharkiv airport.
The 298 passengers and crew killed on the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur flight had been “dreaming about their holiday destinations, but the flight was downed in peacetime over the territory of Ukraine,” he said.
“I am absolutely sure and I want to assure you we will do everything we can in order to find those responsible.
“Sharing our common grief, we absolutely assure you that those people guilty of this terrorist act will be punished.”
Mr Groysman spoke on the tarmac of Kharkiv airport as representatives and ambassadors from the affected nations, including Holland, Malaysia, Australia and Britain, watched the first remains loaded onto the aircraft.
Full dispatch: First bodies of victims flown to Netherlands
10.55 Ministers have been kept in the dark about arms sales to dictatorships, a new parliamentary report has found as it emerged that hundreds of weapons shipments to Russians were approved by the Government despite an embargo in the wake of the Crimean annexation. Matthew Holehouse reports:
A report by MPs found that of 285 export licences to Russia, worth a total
of £131 million, just 34 have been cancelled under a promise by William
Hague in March to end any licences that could be used by the Russian
military or state agencies to destabilise Ukraine.
Downing Street insisted that none of the remaining licences permitted exports to the Russian military, and said they could include sporting rifles.
The cancelled licences included air-to-air missiles and warship components.
But the licences that British manufacturers and brokers were allowed to keep included weapons sights, sniper rifles, bomb-proof suits, unmanned aerial vehicles, military helicopter components and cryptographic equipment, the MPs claimed.
A shipment of surface to air missile components that was not cancelled was destined for the Brazilian navy that has permission to dock in Russian ports, the Department for Business said.
10.47 David Cameron has dismissed criticism that the sanctions agreed by EU leaders yesterday were too soft, saying that they have already damaged the Russian economy. The Telegraph's Steven Swinford reports:
Speaking in Scotland, Mr Cameron said: "There was some progress made in
terms of identifying more of the cronies and oligarchs that need to have
travel bans and asset freezes put on them. It does affect him [Putin]
directly.
"The effect of the sanctions has cut the Russian growth rate from 3 per cent to almost zero per cent. It has seen a reduction in the Russian stock market, a reduction in the rouble. The pressure is telling but we need to do more."
He said that Europe made "good progress" in Brussels yesterday. He said: "I think we have made some good progress. The sanctions are really in respect of the broader picture which it to me what caused the downing of this jet was - the fact Russians were allowing weapons and support to the separatists in the Ukraine. They were denying the integrity of a modern European state. I don't think Europe can stand idly by."
10.28 The black boxes from MH17 have been delivered to Britain for expert analysis, the UK government has said. AFP reports:
The recorders have been delivered to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch
headquarters in Farnborough, southwest of London.
"We can confirm that the two black boxes from MH17 have been delivered by the Dutch Safety Board to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch at Farnborough for download," a Department for Transport spokeswoman told AFP.
10.06 Bill Clinton has paid tribute to the HIV researchers and campaigners who died aboard MH17, telling a global AIDS summit in Australia that the world must take a firm stand against those responsible. Jonathan Pearlman reports:
The former United States president painted a stark contrast between the
brutality of those who attacked the Malaysia Airlines plane and the
pioneering work of AIDS researcher Joep Lange and his wife and four other
campaigners who were aboard.
"He [Dr Lange] and the five other colleagues we lost lived lives which are overpowering in their contribution to a shared future," Mr Clinton told the summit in Melbourne.
"Those who shot them down and who provided the means to do so represent the other side in our struggle to define the terms of our interdependence: the open hand against the clenched fist, inclusive politics and economics versus division and dominance, cooperation against control, life against death."
09.47 Latest from Harriet Alexander in Holland:
Dutch media is now saying that only 40-50 bodies of victims in total will
be returned to the Netherlands today. There were 298 people on board,
including 198 Dutch passengers .
Earlier today we thought around 60 Dutch bodies would be returned home this afternoon.
09.22 As reported in this morning's Telegraph, Russian oligarchs have begun shifting assets out of London as sanctions loom over MH17. Peter Dominiczak and Matthew Holehouse report:
Russian oligarchs are moving money out of London following threats of tough
financial sanctions in the wake of the attack on Flight MH17, Downing Street
has said.
Allies of Vladimir Putin are understood to be reacting after British demands to punish the Russian president’s “cronies”.
The European Union on Tuesday agreed to draw up a list of Russians who will face sanctions following the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane, which killed 298 people.
No 10 refused to say which oligarchs were being targeted because of the risk of “asset flight”.
Full report: Russian oligarchs shift assets out of London as sanctions loom
09.10 Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf carries a striking image of the wreckage on its front page, with the headline: "This is the proof".
The article says that the plane was shot down by a Russian-made missile.
De Volkskrant's front page shows the Australian Boeing C-17 in Eindhoven, preparing to fly to Kharkiv to bring the bodies back. The headline simply reads: "National day of mourning"
08.55 Ben Farmer has arrived at Kharkiv airport, where the British ambassador to the Ukraine is present to see off the victims' bodies on their flight to the Netherlands:
British embassy officials, including the ambassador, Simon Smith, are at
the airport.
He said he had "enormous respect for the families and their understanding that this is an extremely difficult operation that requires an awful lot of different nations coming together".
He said no British relatives had made the journey to Kharkiv to meet the bodies.
A British forensic expert is expected to accompany the first flight, a C130 Hercules, when it flies to Eindhoven.
British officials will also be in the Dutch City to meet it.
People load coffins carrying some of remains of Malaysia Airlines MH17 victims to a transport plane at Kharkiv airport (GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS)
08.25 While events progress on the ground in Ukraine, the EU prepares to continue discussions over sanctions against Russia today. This follows yesterday's agreement of "concrete proposals" to draw up a list of individuals close to Vladimir Putin to be targeted.
The Press Association reports:
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed "concrete proposals"
to draw up a list of the Russian president's associates who would be subject
to punitive measures, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said.
The first names will be considered at a meeting tomorrow, where ministers will also look at broader sanctions such as arms embargoes and access to capital and hi-tech goods.
Mr Cameron has openly criticised a "reluctance" on the part of some European nations to take stronger action against Moscow, saying it would be "unthinkable" in the UK to go ahead with a French deal to sell helicopter carriers to Russia.
But MPs have warned that Britain is itself continuing to export tens of millions of pounds worth of arms and other dual-use military equipment to Russia.
The Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls said that 251 export licences for the sale to Russia of controlled goods worth at least £132 million remained in force.
Despite a promise in March by the then foreign secretary William Hague to stop military sales to Russia which could be used against Ukraine, it said that just 31 licences had been revoked or suspended while Russia had been removed as a permitted destination on three others.
08.10 Ben Farmer reports that the first bodies have now arrived at Kharkiv airport, where an honour guard is forming up to greet them:
A refrigerated truck, believed to be full off bodies, left the Malyshev
factory in Kharkiv at around 9.30am [7.30am UK time].
The truck made the short journey to the nearby airport under police escort and accompanied by Dutch investigators.
An honour guard of Ukrainian military personnel in blue uniforms with gold braid is forming up in one of the airport's hangars.
07.52 Harriet Alexander is in the Netherlands this morning, where the victims's bodies are due to arrive this afternoon at Eindhoven:
Today has been declared a national day of mourning in the Netherlands -
the first since 1962, when Queen Wilhelmina died.
At 4pm local time we are expecting the first plane carrying bodies of the crash victims to arrive at Eindhoven - where King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte will be waiting.
We're told the bells will be rung across the country as the plane touches down.
The bodies will then be taken with a police escort to Hilversum, 100km away, where the identification process will be carried out.
We're hearing that 66 of the 198 Dutch victims have been identified and will be landing today.
07.37 The Telegraph's defence correspondent Ben Farmer is in Kharkiv, where the first truck of bodies has left the tank plant at which they were stored overnight, and is now being driven with a police escort through the city, presumably to the airport:
<noframe>Twitter: Ben Farmer - Large refrigerated trucks arriving at Kharkiv's Malyshev factory where bodies stayed last night. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23MH17" target="_blank">#MH17</a> <a href="http://t.co/pm2l6ICPMd" target="_blank">http://t.co/pm2l6ICPMd</a></noframe>
07.15 Overnight, US intelligence found that there was no direct link to Kremlin in plane downing although senior US intelligence officials maintained that Russia was responsible for "creating the conditions" that led to the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
The intelligence officials were cautious in their assessment, noting that
while the Russians have been arming separatists in eastern Ukraine, the U.S.
had no direct evidence that the missile used to shoot down the passenger jet
came from Russia.
The officials briefed reporters on Tuesday under ground rules that their names not be used in discussing intelligence related to last week's air disaster, which killed 298 people.
The plane was likely shot down by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the intelligence officials said, citing intercepts, satellite photos and social media postings by separatists, some of which have been authenticated by U.S. experts.
But the officials said they did not know who fired the missile or whether any Russian operatives were present at the missile launch. They were not certain that the missile crew was trained in Russia, although they described a stepped-up campaign in recent weeks by Russia to arm and train the rebels, which they say has continued even after the downing of the commercial jetliner.
In terms of who fired the missile, "we don't know a name, we don't know a rank and we're not even 100 percent sure of a nationality," one official said, adding at another point, "There is not going to be a Perry Mason moment here," a referenc to a fictional detective who solved mysteries.
The train carrying the 280 bodies recovered from MH17 arrives in Kharkiv on July 22, 2014(AFP/GETTY)
07.00 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the ongoing MH17 disaster. Today, the bodies of 282 of the victims are finally arriving in the Netherlands to undergo detailed identification and forensic examination.
