Jewelry, credit cards and money looted from #MH17 crash site, Ukraine blames rebels. http://t.co/pnotyDOm1u
— CNN International (@cnni) July 19, 2014
Here are some more details from our news desk on Kyiv's claims that separatists are attempting to destroy evidence at the MH17 crash site:
Ukraine’s government says pro-Russian rebels – "with the help of Russia" -- are trying to destroy evidence at the crash site of a Malaysian passenger jet that was shot down on July 17 while flying over separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine -- killing all 298 people aboard.
A government statement today "officially states that the terrorists, with the help of Russia, are trying to destroy evidence of international crimes."
The statement also said separatists removed 38 bodies and placed them in a morgue in Donetsk, where it said specialists with "strong Russian accents" threatened to carry out their own autopsies.
Separatist leaders have promised access to inspectors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
But separatist fighters blocked an OSCE team on July 18 and were continuing to prevent the experts from inspecting the site on July 19.
(Reuters, AP, and AFP)
Russia rejects what everyone else thinks happened to #MH17. The murder weapon disappears. This is going to get worse. http://t.co/oIogzwvjqB
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) July 19, 2014
This probably hurts the most. In between the debris in the field. pic.twitter.com/0262v0Xwi8
— Olaf Koens (@obk) July 19, 2014
Britain's tabloid press is not pulling punches: pic.twitter.com/fkriXYGBZn via @euromaidan
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) July 19, 2014
Meanwhile, fighting seems to be rumbling on in Luhansk (from RFE/RL's news desk):
Ukraine's Defense Minister has told President Petro Poroshenko that government troops had taken control of the southeastern part of the city of Luhansk in the country's east.
A statement on the president's website yesterday said, "The minister of defense, Valery Heletey, told President Petro Poroshenko that Ukrainian armed forces took control of the southeastern part of Luhansk."
The statement added that troops had also surrounded Luhansk airport.
Government troops and pro-Russian rebels have been reportedly engaged in fierce fighting in the separatist-controlled city.
Local officials said more than 20 people have died in shelling over the past two days. There are differing reports as to who is to blame for the shelling.
Electricity and water supplies have been reportedly knocked out in much of the city and a major oil refinery is on fire.
(Reuters, Interfax, and BBC)
Since beginning of crisis Ukrainian air defenses have not fired a single missile, despite alleged violations of airspace by Russian planes.
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) July 18, 2014
Our news desk has been compiling some more reactions to the deaths of AIDS/HIV experts and activists on Flight MH17:
Scientists searching for a cure to AIDS have vowed to push ahead with their quest despite the deaths of veteran colleagues on the Malaysia Airlines flight that was shot down over separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.
Nobel laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi said ahead of an international AIDS summit in Australia that the death of scientist Joep Lange was a major setback.
But she said Lange and other members of the AIDS community who were killed on the flight would have encouraged delegates to go on with the six-day summit – which formally begins on July 20.
Reports yesterday said as many as 100 people traveling to the AIDS summit died when the jetliner was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17.
But Barre-Sinoussi said on July 19 that the confirmed number of summit delegates who were killed was just six – far fewer than feared.
(AP, AFP)
"I'm not an aviation expert, but..." https://t.co/rvKpkxDCi7 This is really desperate stuff from RT.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) July 19, 2014