Dutch prepare to fly out MH17 bodies as EU moves to punish Russia

KHARKIV, Ukraine

Dutch experts on Tuesday prepared to fly out bodies recovered from downed Malaysian flight MH17, as Europe moved to punish Russia for fanning the rebellion in east Ukraine that it believes led to the crash.

A train carrying the remains of the victims arrived in the government-held Ukrainian city of Kharkiv five days after the jet was brought down, after rebels controlling the crash site finally released the bodies and plane's black boxes under intense international pressure.

But that was only the first leg of the long journey home for many of the 298 crash victims, with the bodies to be flown on Wednesday first to the Netherlands, which had 193 citizens aboard the doomed flight and is taking the lead in investigating the disaster.

It would also be the start of a complex investigation and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned that the identification of the bodies alone could take months as experts from the Netherlands said they were only sure 200 bodies had been delivered so far.

A truce has been declared by rival sides around the impact site, but close by fighting raged on as government troops pushed on with an offensive to wrest control of east Ukraine's industrial heartland from the pro-Moscow rebels.

Around 1,000 people have been killed in the 15-week conflict, almost a third of those victims of the plane crash that had brought Ukraine's war at the doorstep of countries as far away as Australia and Indonesia.

In Brussels, European foreign ministers decided to prepare defence sector sanctions against Moscow, accused of arming the rebels who allegedly shot down MH17 and the EU was due to announce a new list of sanction targets, including Russian personalities and entities, on Thursday.

LOCAL TRUCE

After intense international focus on what world leaders denounced as a "shambolic" situation at the crash site, rebels handed over two black boxes, which record cockpit activity and flight data, to Malaysian officials.

The rebels followed Kiev in announcing a ceasefire around the impact site in a move that should help international investigators examine the vast area, a forensic minefield littered with poignant fragments from hundreds of destroyed lives.

Elsewhere in Ukraine's east, fighting was continuing with local authorities in the besieged cities of Donetsk and Lugansk reporting 10 civilians killed in 24 hours and Ukraine's military saying 13 soldiers had died.

As artillery fire rang out in Donetsk, a fighter, who declined to be named said: "They're firing on civilians! These are Ukrainians! They have become like wild animals."

Kiev reported on Tuesday that it had retaken Severodonetsk — an industrial city of about 100,000 inhabitants around 120 kilometres from rebel stronghold Donetsk.

In a sign tensions are still running high a senior security official in Kiev claimed that Russia had massed over 40,000 soldiers along its border over the past week.

And leaders from nine ex-Communist NATO member states were meeting in Warsaw to discuss how to boost defence of the alliance's eastern flank as they face a resurgent Russia.

PUTIN VOWS TO HELP

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has borne the brunt of international fury, on Tuesday pledged to "do everything" to influence the separatists and ensure a full probe into the crash.

At the same time, he put the ball back in Kiev's court, saying that Ukrainian military offensive in the east was posing a danger to international investigators there.

"We are asked to exert influence on the militants of the south-east (of Ukraine). Of course we will do everything in our power.

"However this would be absolutely inadequate" given fresh attacks by Ukrainian troops, he said.

Moscow had earlier slapped down accusations that it had supplied the missile system allegedly used to attack MH17, with a senior defence official intimating that Kiev may have been responsible for its downing.

Russia is already suffering the consequences of several rounds of sanctions imposed by the West, with the latest set unveiled less than a week ago.

The emerging giant is widely expected to sink into recession this year, hit by massive capital outflows over the Ukraine crisis.

But more pain is still to come as Austria's foreign minister Sebastian Kurz said the European Commission "will be tasked to prepare targeted sanctions in the sectors of key technology and military."

Britain said an arms embargo would send a "very clear message" to Moscow. Lithuania backed the proposal with its Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius saying of the downing of MH17: "We are talking about a terrorist act."

BLACK BOXES 'INTACT'

Even as the investigation into the plane crash slowly begins, world leaders warned the rebels' handling of the crash site had already done much damage.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whose country had 28 citizens and nine residents on the plane, said: "There is still a long, long way to go."

"After the crime comes the cover-up," he added. "What we have seen is evidence tampering on an industrial scale. That has to stop."

Experts from Malaysia, reeling from their flagship carrier's second disaster in only four months after flight MH370 went missing in the Indian Ocean, said the black boxes were "intact with only minor damage."

Britain — which lost 10 people in the crash — agreed to decrypt the vital data from the recorders.

Malaysia's deal with the pro-Russian rebels caps a disaster response praised at home as swift and clear, unlike the widely mocked handling of missing flight MH370.

But Malaysian Airlines had to defend itself after confirming it diverted a flight over Syrian airspace when its usual route over Ukraine was closed following the crash.

It said MH4's flight path over Syria was along a route approved by UN's aviation agency.