Relatives Of MH17 Victims Appeal To EU Over Radar Data, Intelligence
Frustrated relatives of people killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine have appealed to the European Union’s top diplomat to put pressure on Russia, Ukraine, and the United States to provide investigators with intelligence and radar data about the tragedy.
An international investigation is collecting evidence for criminal charges against those responsible for the July 17, 2014, tragedy that killed all 298 passengers and crew members aboard.
Russia and Ukraine blame each other for downing the Boeing 777.
A 15-month investigation concluded in 2015 by Dutch authorities said a Buk missile shot down the plane, but did not explicitly say who fired the missile.
However, it identified a 320-square-kilometer area where it said the launch must have taken place. All of that territory was controlled by Russia-backed separatists at the time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on August 31 that Moscow has given all the intelligence and data it has to the international investigators.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
News just in from RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels:
EU Prepared To Prolong Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine
BRUSSELS -- European Union ambassadors appear set to prolong asset freezes and visa bans against 146 individuals and 37 entities that, according to the EU, are responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity.
EU sources have told RFE/RL that the decision to prolong the measures by six months will be taken ahead of a September 15 deadline without much discussion.
The targets of the sanctions include companies in Crimea and various battalions formed by the Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, as well as Russian politicians like Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Dmitry Kiselyov, a state media executive and presenter whom many regard as the Kremlin's chief propagandist.
The sanctions were first introduced in March 2014 after Russia's seizure and illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
The EU's economic sanctions that target Russia's energy, military, and financial sectors are up for renewal on January 31.
EU sources told RFE/RL that those sectoral sanctions will be discussed at a Brussels summit of EU leaders in October.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
