Dutch To Begin Assembling MH17 Wreckage For Investigation
AMSTERDAM, Dec 9 (Reuters) -- Crash investigators were to begin reconstructing the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 shot down over eastern Ukraine in July, killing all 298 people on board, after wreckage arrived by truck at a Dutch air force hangar on Tuesday.
Members of the national Safety Board will piece together the remains of the plane to determine exactly what brought down flight MH17.
A parallel criminal investigation is being conducted by Dutch prosecutors in 11 countries to identify possible culprits. Two-thirds of the passengers on board the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were Dutch.
Washington and its allies said pro-Russian rebels fighting in the area hit the plane with a surface-to-air missile. Russia, caught up in its worst confrontation with the West since the Cold war, said the missile came from a Ukrainian government jet.
Dozens of relatives of the victims looked on in the southern town of Gilze-Rijen as eight flatbed trucks pulled into the military base under police escort.
Ukrainian emergency services operating under Dutch supervision picked up wreckage considered most valuable for the inquiry during a six-day operation in November. Bits of fuselage could help determine what direction the missile came from.
Grieving families have protested against delays in the investigation after debris lay strewn across the crash site for months. One group last week called for a U.N. envoy to take over the investigation, saying Dutch authorities had failed to build a case.
Here is an English map of the latest military situation in eastern Ukraine issued by Kyiv's National Security and Defense Council (click image to enlarge):
No trains to Ukraine. From our news desk.
Russia's state railway company says it will stop almost all service to Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan for a year starting December 14, citing a lack of demand.
In a statement on its website on December 9, Russian Railways said its Federal Passenger Company unit is suspending the service because it is not profitable.
It said "the decision to suspend some trains' operations had been caused by a significant decrease in the volume of international rail travel, which led to the ineffective use of engines and trains."
Russia is deeply at odds with Ukraine over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and an armed conflict between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
But Russia is trying to strengthen ties with other ex-Soviet republics including Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, its partner in a Customs Union.
Kazakhstan's state railway company says its 10 trains linking Kazakh cities with Russia will continue to run.
Tajik Railways Company said its trains to Russia will also continue to operate.
Russian Railways will continue to operate trains to Moldova, Belarus, and northern Kazakhstan as well as two trains to Uzbekistan, which go through Kazakhstan.
RT's Graham Phillips not a fan.