The relevant statement was made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
According to the General Staff, Russian troops continue to focus efforts on attempts to reach the administrative border of the Donetsk region, as well as to hold the occupied areas of such regions as Kharkiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson.
The enemy continues to strike Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and civilian objects. Over the past day, Russian projectiles have caused damage to infrastructure and civilians in such settlements as Kostiantynivka, Chumaky, Lebedynske, Zaporizhzhia, Davydiv Brid, Myrne and Ochakiv.
For this purpose, Russians used cruise, air-launched, anti-aircraft guided missiles, as well as Iranian-manufactured unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs).
Over the past day, Russian invaders have launched three missile strikes and 10 air strikes, and opened fire with multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) about a dozen times.
In the Volyn and Polissia directions, the situation remained rather unchanged.
The leadership of the Republic of Belarus continues to provide assistance to the Russian Federation in order to carry out military aggression on the territory of Ukraine. According to the available information, another special train loaded with weapons, military equipment and ammunition arrived from Gomel to the temporarily occupied Crimea.
In the Siverskyi direction, Russian troops used mortars and cannon artillery to open fire on the Sumy region’s Ukrainske and Atynske.
In the Slobozhanskyi direction, the enemy struck such settlements as Strilecha, Krasne, Ohirtseve, Vovchansk, Zelene, Starytsia, Dvorichna and Hryanykivka with mortars, cannon and rocket artillery.
In the Kramatorsk direction, Russian invaders launched artillery strikes on Pershotravneve, Nadiia, Novoiehorivka, Olhivka, Hrekivka, Yampolivka, Terny, Zarichne, Torske.
In the Bakhmut direction, the enemy used tanks, mortars, cannon and rocket artillery to open fire on over 15 settlements along the contact line, namely Siversk, Bilohorivka, Hryhorivka, Soledar, Bakhmutske, Bakhmut, Kostiantynivka, Opytne, Ivanhrad.
In the Avdiivka direction, Russian troops struck Berdychi, Avdiivka, Pervomaiske, Vodiane, Opytne, Nevelske and Marinka with tanks and various artillery systems.
In the Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia directions, Russian invaders did not conduct offensive actions and continue to set up defense positions. They used mortars, cannon and rocket artillery to open fire on over 20 settlements, including Novosilka, Vremivka, Novopil, Neskuchne, Zolota Nyva, Vuhledar, Kamianske and Bilohiria.
In the Southern Bug direction, over 30 settlements came under enemy fire along the contact line.
In the temporarily occupied city of Kherson, Russian occupiers seized 13 out of 15 barge-type vessels in order to transport personnel and equipment across the Dnieper from the local river port.
In the temporarily occupied Crimea, Russian occupation authorities issued an order specifying the procedure for evacuating museums. In particular, internal (within the occupied region) and external (to the territory of the Russian Federation) evacuation plans were approved for local museums. Exhibits with the greatest material value are subject to priority evacuation.
A significant number of Russian troops have been confirmed as eliminated in recent days. In particular, Russian invaders lost up to 150 troops in killed and about 100 in wounded near the Donetsk region’s Khlibodarivka, Zaporizhzhia region’s Tokmak and Kherson region’s Tokarivka.
In addition, the Ukrainian military destroyed three Russian S-300 missile systems and about 10 military equipment units.
According to the preliminary data, near a railway station in the Luhansk region’s Antratsyt, Ukrainian defenders destroyed a significant number of Russian weapons and military equipment, which had been transported by rail. The details are yet to be checked.
Over the past day, Ukrainian air forces have launched 13 strikes on enemy positions. Twelve Russian ammunition and military equipment clusters were confirmed as hit, as well as one air defense missile system.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s missile and artillery units struck three Russian command posts, eight personnel, ammunition and military equipment clusters, and three ammunition depots.
Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421.
© 2015-2025 Ukrinform. All rights reserved.
More reporting by Masha Gessen from Ukraine.
In mid-March, a few weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Alex was still working as a head cook at a bar in central Moscow
He made Mexican-style food to go with craft beer
He loved to cook and to see the pleasure that his food brought people
Every time he walked out into the hall and saw people laughing and drinking overpriced beer
People are getting killed!” When he returned to the kitchen
it looked like it had tumbled down a flight of stairs
A lot of people who opposed the war had already left Russia
He had spent years saving money for top surgery
He and Halyna decided to spend the money differently: Alex would legally change his name
and then they would travel to a country where foreigners of the same sex could get married
had chosen “Alex” as a gender-neutral name and “Stone” as a nod to “stone butch,” which had also been Alex’s identity
Alex filed his name-change request and surrendered his identity documents
he had a personal connection to Ukraine: he owned a small house in Slovyansk
from a mining town in the Donbas called Antratsyt
They came to Moscow in the early two-thousands
Nataliya found work in construction while Halyna finished high school and college
but this did not turn Nataliya and Halyna into Russian citizens: they had Ukrainian passports with Russian residency stamps
Alex and Halyna met online during the pandemic
He speaks softly but with a sense of gravity
Halyna is skinny and tall and wears a long blond braid
Both are struck by their good luck at having found each other
They knew they wanted to leave the country
but Alex had surrendered his documents for the name change
They spent the remainder of their savings on expediting the process so that
Alex and Halyna are staying in Kharkiv at a friend’s apartment
where they’ve fashioned wallpaper in the kitchen from old issues of magazines.Ukrainians could leave Russia via a western border and enter Ukraine through Poland
This was not an option for Russian citizens
Alex urged Halyna and Nataliya to go ahead while he figured out what to do
all three of them took the cheapest possible train to Belgorod
a Russian city twenty miles to the border with Ukraine
they hitched a ride to the border and approached the crossing on foot
Russian border agents looked at them like they were crazy
they passed a sign that read “State border of Ukraine,” or what remained of it
a line of cars waiting to get into Russia was at a standstill
a lone driver going in the direction of Ukraine offered them a ride
a town that had been under Russian occupation since the first day of the war
The keeper of a roadside hotel told them they could stay and pay her in buckwheat and canned goods
which she said they would be able to get in humanitarian-aid packages distributed by the Russians
had become a tradable commodity suggested that there was essentially no food in Vovchansk
what food there was in the stores was prohibitively expensive
Russian cars arrived with humanitarian aid
but it was only for the elderly and the town’s residents
and Nataliya spent nearly two weeks looking for someone who would drive them to Kharkiv
The wheels had broken off one of their bags
so a local sanitation worker who had taken pity on them gave them a wheelbarrow
and the driver asked if they needed a ride
The truck driver delivered bread to Vovchansk
He had an arrangement with soldiers on both sides
which probably helped explain the exorbitant price of the bread
They passed two Russian checkpoints before reaching a Ukrainian one
They handed over their documents through the window
the soldier commanded the family to get out of the car and to line up facing it
The soldiers bound their hands behind their backs with Scotch tape
and placed black plastic bags over their heads
The family was loaded into the car and taken to a different location
and Nataliya thought they were about to be executed
and someone helped them get out and led them inside of a building
Halyna realized with surprise that she was sitting on something soft
I’d take it and shoot myself.” He’d never farmed in his life
The officer asked why Halyna was shaking and crying
and some valerian-root pills to help them calm down
Alex had scrubbed it clean before leaving Moscow
“I’m not interested in your private business,” the officer barked
The officer loaded the family and their belongings into a car
apparently intending to drive them to Kharkiv
The shelling and bombing seemed to get intense for him
where he directed the soldiers to make sure the trio got to Kharkiv
The next car to pass the checkpoint got three extra passengers
A friend told them that they could stay in his apartment: he was with his parents in western Ukraine
which had been under heavy fire since the first day of the war
Alex started applying for political asylum in Ukraine. He and Halyna even wrote to President Zelensky personally
They got a response from his administration
virtually the same response they had received from every office: as long as the war continues
there is no legal procedure for allowing Russian citizens to gain protection in Ukraine
But it means that he can’t safely leave the apartment
Halyna has been harassed a couple of times over the Russian residency stamp in her passport
and Nataliya have been living in Kharkiv for eleven months
stripping old wallpaper and painting the walls lilac and yellow
they fashioned intricate wallpaper from old issues of glossy magazines
whose mother was killed by shrapnel when he was three days old
But they haven’t figured out a way to make money
A humanitarian organization helps them out
Alex and Halyna have concluded that they need to leave Ukraine
A friend is helping them raise money for the journey
to make their way to a country that recognizes same-sex marriage and doesn’t require visas for Russian citizens
but there are only three hundred Russians there
She’s spent enough time in other people’s countries
How Ukrainians saved their capital
A historian envisions a settlement among Russia, Ukraine, and the West
How Russia’s latest commander in Ukraine could change the war
The profound defiance of daily life in Kyiv
The Ukraine crackup in the G.O.P.
A filmmaker’s journey to the heart of the war
Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker.
Svi Mykhailiuk issue statement after invasion of UkraineLen and Mykhailiuk 'categorically condemn the war' following the Russian invasion of their native country
Sacramento Kings center Alex Len and Toronto Raptors forward Svi Mykhailiuk
condemned Russia’s invasion of their native country in a joint statement released on Thursday
“A great tragedy befell our dear homeland Ukraine
We categorically condemn the war,” Len and Mykhailiuk wrote
sovereign state inhabited by people who want to decide their own destiny
relatives and all the people who are in the territory of Ukraine
“We hope for an end to this terrible war as soon as possible
НЕТ ВОЙНЕ #PrayForUkraine #StandWithUkraine @sviat_10 pic.twitter.com/hGJG4fE8Ce
— Alex Len (@alexlen) February 24, 2022
Ні Війні! pic.twitter.com/CkPZ3cDQdm
— Svi Mykhailiuk (@Sviat_10) February 24, 2022
played basketball in his native country with Dnipropetrovsk Higher College
a handful of FIBA tournaments and BC Dnipro of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague
After playing for two seasons at the University of Maryland
5 by the Phoenix Suns in the 2013 NBA Draft
Len has had stints two stints with Sacramento and also played in Phoenix
Mykhailiuk was born in Cherkasy of Ukraine and played for the Ukrainian national team during the 2014 FIBA World Cup
47 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018 NBA Draft
He has also played in Detroit and Oklahoma City
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been impacted by the recent events in Ukraine
and especially with our Ukrainian players Alex Len and Svi Mykhailiuk and their families during this difficult time
— NBPA (@TheNBPA) February 25, 2022
Take a closer look at 5 storylines to follow as the post All-Star break stretch begins.
Take a look at how each team's post-break schedule could impact playoff pushes around the NBA.
With roughly 20 games left in the season, it's time to assess the race for the Kia Rookie of the Year award.
The personal stories and motivation from several former and current NBA figures played a key role in Klay Thompson's recovery.
With their win vs. Houston, the Warriors become just the seventh No. 7 seed to beat a No. 2 seed since 1984.
Aaron Gordon comes up clutch again for the Nuggets, while the Thunder face the 1st big test of their 2025 playoff run.
Boston's reliance on the 3-ball backfires, while New York's defenders come through in the clutch to pull off massive comeback for series-opening win.
Celtics announce Porzingis was questionable to return with an illness that they specified was non-Covid.
WNBA champions Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones glamour up alongside Angel Reese for the annual fashion event.
Like many coaches, Kenny Atkinson experienced a setback on his coaching journey. Ultimately, it fueled the 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year.
2015 5:23 PM EDTThere was never any lack of witnesses to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
It happened in broad daylight exactly a year ago
in a part of eastern Ukraine that separatist fighters had seized a few months earlier with abundant help from Russia
The names and whereabouts of their leaders are well known
Western and Ukrainian officials have long accused them of shooting down the plane with a Russian-made missile
So the problem is not in finding them but in bringing them to justice
which will be nearly impossible without Russia’s help
And that help has not usually been forthcoming
Take, for instance, the Russian paramilitary group known as the Don Cossacks, which enjoys the financial support and legal recognition of the Russian state
was in control of a patch of territory in eastern Ukraine around the coal-mining town of Antratsyt
which is about 10 miles down the road from the crash site of Flight 17
released what it claimed to be an intercepted phone conversation between Kozitsyn and one of his fighters
the fighter reports to Kozitsyn that they have shot down a civilian plane by mistake
“There’s a whole sea of corpses
women and children,” the fighter says
The voice identified as that of Kozitsyn does not seem moved by this information
“They shouldn’t have been flying,” the voice says
“There’s a war going on here.”
While he could easily have dismissed the recording as a fake, Kozitsyn later admitted that it was genuine. In a November interview with Vice News
he said that it captured his reaction to the news of a civilian airliner being shot down over his territory
then asks the commander who shot down the plane
“A missile.” And who fired the missile
whose citizens made up the majority of people killed on that flight
The only objections to the idea came from Russia, whose permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council gives it the right to block the tribunal’s creation. “Personally I don’t see any prospects for these documents,” Moscow’s ambassador to the U.N., Vitaly Churkin, said of the Malaysian proposal
“Although civilian airplanes were destroyed before
they never led to an international tribunal
and sometimes they didn’t lead to any judicial proceedings at all.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated this point on the eve of the catastrophe’s one-year anniversary, when he took a call from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. According to a statement on the Kremlin website
Putin told Rutte on July 16 that it would be “counterproductive” to have an international tribunal take up the case
having apparently failed to find enough people willing to talk
But the separatist fighters who control these areas refused to cooperate
and the Dutch team went home without the information they wanted
So far, Dutch authorities have declined to name any of the suspects or potential witnesses in their investigation. But apart from Kozitsyn, they may find it useful to speak with Igor Girkin, the former Russian security officer who was leading the main group of separatists around the crash site last summer
often appearing in public and giving interviews to the press
Owing 900 million is almost the same thing as having these hundreds of millions.” He punctuated this attempt at a joke with a grinning emoticon
Contact us at letters@time.com
Alex Len was born and raised in Antratsyt
near the southeastern corner of the country
It is about 1,000 kilometres due south of Moscow
Len’s grandfather worked for about 60 years in the mines
although Len clarifies she worked “near the top.” The mines are facts of life
He was tall and athletically gifted — Yulia ran track in her youth — so he went to Dnipro
He went to a boarding school so he could focus more on athletics
Len wasn’t originally keen on the idea of leaving home that early
I didn’t want to go,” the new Raptors centre said over the phone earlier this week
I don’t know what the fuck I’d be doing right now
But Len, whose five years bled into two mostly spent with the Hawks, before playing the last 15 games of last year with the Kings
has no trouble keeping his life in perspective
has been at the centre of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War
The fighting has slowed down since the peak around 2014 and 2015
but it remains an unstable part of the world
His grandfather has moved to the centre of the country
while other friends and family have moved to Russia
“It’s not as active,” Len said of the violence
Len returned to his home country in 2018 to play for the senior national for the first time
and he keeps track of what’s going on in Ukraine
Len is trying to make the most of his career in the NBA
Given the nature of the first seven years of his career
a significant part of coming to the Raptors was the chance to play for a competitive team
As is the case with many lottery picks who figure out a way to have a long career despite not living up to his hype
Len has figured out his niche in the league
despite being a bit of a drain on his team’s offence
That comes with a much-improved understanding of the position and improved rim deterrence
He has become a pro at prioritizing personal growth within the team concept
even when grand early-season goals diminish or disappear
We know we weren’t making the playoffs,” Len said
he was just saying make sure you just focus on getting better
Alex Len just sent Pau Gasol into retirement with this posterpic.twitter.com/M8X6GyXGGJ
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 11, 2018
“To start off, he’s seven-foot, for sure,” DeAndre’ Bembry
He was looking forward to participating in the bubble
even if the Kings’ chances of making the postseason were unlikely due to the Western Conference logjam between eighth and 13th spots
As the league prepared to secure the bubble from COVID-19
“First week I didn’t feel no symptoms,” Len said
“And then for probably six weeks after that
Len is eager to get back to playing. He returned in time to play the final six games in the bubble, so he is not facing the same nine-month absence from actual NBA basketball that Bembry or Aron Baynes
who missed the entire bubble because of the coronavirus
Pierce told him from the beginning of his Atlanta tenure that he wanted Len to expand his shooting range
He shot 263 3-pointers in his last two years
with a solid 2018-19 giving way to a poor shooting season last year
“I think as such a young big … sometimes this is when bigs start to really develop and come of their own,” Masai Ujiri said of the 27-year-old centre
“I think he still has plenty of good basketball ahead of him with great size and good skills.”
“I’m not sure on the shooting part quite yet,” Nurse said about Len’s role
“I would say that my initial thought is we probably want him underneath the basket in the dunker (spot)
We’ve never really had the pick-and-roll lob threat … just throwing it up at the rim
“(He is) really getting his hands on a lot of offensive rebounds
I would envision that he probably stays in pretty tight (to the basket) at this point
Will he sneak out and will we get him a three now and then
it is difficult to imagine him complaining
“We’ve got almost three All-Stars,” Len said of his excitement of joining the Raptors
“I think (Fred) VanVleet definitely is an All-Star-calibre player
if I get them down the court (by grabbing a rebound)
I’ve just got to fit in with this group of guys.”
(Photo: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)
Eric Koreen is a senior writer covering the Raptors and the NBA
The Russians transported several dozen Ukrainian children from the occupied Ukrainian territories to Belarus. The minors were sent to “emergency survival training” with Belarusian military personnel, according to Politico
“The Belarus 4 Mogilev state television channel reported on Wednesday that 35 children from the city of Antratsyt in eastern Ukraine
were sent to the eastern Belarusian city of Mogilev
where they were taught “how to behave in extreme situations” in exercises with the Belarusian military,” the publication writes
some dressed in sports suits with Russian flags on their sleeves
The minors hold on to each other and cover their faces during fire drills
self-proclaimed Belarusian President Lukashenko
who provided the country’s territory to Russia for the war against Ukraine
met with a group of deported Ukrainian children
keep them warm and make their childhood happier.”
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion
the Russian occupation authorities have deported thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia and Belarus from temporarily occupied territories
Moscow began deporting Ukrainian children even before the full-scale invasion on February 24
human rights advocates estimate that Russia has deported over 1.5 million minors
In April, the Council of Europe named the forcible transfer and russification of Ukrainian children as “evidence of a genocide.”
In November, it was reported that the Russians in the occupied territories of Ukraine received instructions from the Kremlin to prepare new lists of children who do not have guardianship for further deportation
the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of the President of Russia
who is Russia’s Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights
Putin and Lvova-Belova are suspected of committing the war crime of illegal deportation and transfer of children from the occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation
which took place at least since February 24
Cover: mogilev.mchs.gov.by (Courtesy Photo)
[email protected]
[email protected]
FB: @uwcongress
Outside Luhansk City and its environs, the “Luhansk People’s Republic’s” (LPR) territory is splintered into de facto fiefdoms and portions of no man’s land. Each fiefdom has its own ataman (leader) and armed formation claiming Cossack status (see Parts One and Two in EDM
They are headquartered in medium-sized towns (average population size 100,000) that serve as district-level administrative centers
These towns are home to massive but ailing metallurgical and chemical plants and coal mines
This traditional coalmining town with the surrounding district is ruled by Pavel Dryomov (Dremov)
heavily armed force has demonstrated its capacity to disrupt the armistice
According to Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) telephone intercepts
Dryomov reports directly to the command of the operational group of Russian forces stationed in the “LPR” (Kyiv Post
Dryomov purports to be an ataman and a major-general
and calls his force the First Cossack Regiment of a purported 31st District (Okrug) of Russia’s Don Cossack Host
All these claims to rank and status are more than dubious
Dryomov sounds equally colorful when recounting his own biography as a former bricklayer
before going to war against Ukraine in April 2014 (Novosti DNR
Dryomov’s unit split off last September from Nikolai Kozitsyn’s Cossack National Guard (see below)
Kozitsyn’s units controlled long sections of what is legally the Ukrainian side of the Russia-Ukraine border and the access routes into “LPR’s” interior
The ataman established his headquarters in the town of Antratsyt
later expanding his de facto rule to Krasnyi Luch (major coal-mining towns and administrative centers of the eponymous districts)
could hardly be taken seriously as an individual
he had no military record other than a stint as a volunteer in Transnistria against Moldova
Kozitsyn had worked in the Soviet penitentiary system
but was dismissed and embarked on the career of a folkloric Cossack
Perhaps he was fronting for some other Russian authority from his base in Antratsyt
Kozitsyn bragged of Russian military personnel in his units
and of his own connections with the Kremlin
Yet he disavowed the Minsk armistice agreements
He deprecated the “LPR” as a “fiction,” merely a land of Don Cossacks and a part of the Russian Empire
A rival group of Russian nationalists published documents showing Kozitsyn’s involvement in sales of coal to Ukrainian enterprises (Ukraina.ru
another Cossack unit (believed to be undercover Spetsnaz) raided Kozitsyn’s headquarters
killed his two closest aides and other retainers in a shootout
and removed the ataman forcibly to Russia (Lugansk Information Center
The new commander of the Cossack National Guard in town has been identified as Rashid Shakirzanov (ethnicity not stated)
He is also quoted as rejecting “LPR’s” legitimacy and claiming parts of Ukraine’s southeast for Russian Cossacks
ARIZONA NEWS
4:36 PM | Updated: Jan 18
(Zillow Photo)
BY KTAR.COM
PHOENIX — In a move that sounds like a cute family story
current Phoenix Sun Alex Len has reportedly bought the Valley home of former player Raja Bell
The real estate website’s original story about Bell putting the home on the market dates back to 2015
so the Cleveland Cavaliers player director had to wait a while to collect his big league paycheck
The home was listed at $2.5 million in 2015
so it’s possible Bell decided to give Len a Suns discount
five years after Bell was traded to the then-Charlotte Bobcats
Len — who stands 7-foot-1 — will likely need a little more room to move around than the rest of us
The 6,700-square-foot home sits on slightly more than an acre of land
The property also has a retractable glass wall separating the family room and the backyard
Ukraine native will be able to enjoy three fireplaces
they can put their feet up in a separate guest house with its own two-car garage
Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here
Pro-Russia rebels attack Ukrainian border guardsThe Associated PressLUHANSK
Ukraine — Hundreds of pro-Russia insurgents attacked a border guard base in eastern Ukraine on Monday
with some firing rocket-propelled grenades from the roof of a nearby residential building
At least five rebels were killed when the guards returned fire
a spokesman for the border guard service said
Rebels in uniform near the Luhansk base promised safety for the officers if they surrendered and laid down their arms
who have seized government and police buildings across eastern Ukraine
have waged increasingly aggressive attacks on government-held checkpoints and garrisons in an attempt to seize weapons and ammunition from Ukrainian forces
the spokesman for the border guard service
told The Associated Press by telephone that a preliminary assessment indicated that five rebels were killed and eight wounded in the attack on the walled compound on the western fringes of Luhansk
a major city not far from the Russian border
He also said seven servicemen were wounded
An AP reporter saw at least one dead rebel soldier about a kilometer (half-mile) away from the base
Fellow fighters approached and broke into tears as they viewed the body
One insurgent said the dead man was a leading rebel commander
local time but resumed a few hours later with heavy gunfire heard in the area
Rebels shot at least six rocket-propelled grenades at the compound from the rooftop of a residential building
said pro-Russian militants have surrounded the base but offered Ukrainian troops a safe corridor out
Sevastopolsky is from a rebel group based in Antratsyt
press secretary for Ukraine's operation against the rebels in the east
described the base as an important coordinating node for the border guards
and said the attack may have been an attempt to disrupt communications
Seleznyov also said there was another rebel attack Monday on a government checkpoint in Slovyansk
a city in the Donetsk region that has been an epicenter of the pro-Russian movement
He said rebels had set mines at a number of power plants in Slovyansk
which he claimed would be detonated if the government were to move on the city
gunmen from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic on Monday entered the office of the local newspaper and took away its editor
The gunmen said they were taking the Vecherny Donetsk editor in for questioning
Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine has been the scene of deadly clashes between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents
Many in Ukraine's east are suspicious of the new pro-Western government in Kiev
which came to power when pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country in February after months of street protests in Kiev
Protests in the east demanding greater independence from the Ukrainian capital soon turned into a separatist movement as the Luhansk and Donetsk regions declared independence following hastily called referendums
The conflict between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian insurgents escalated markedly in the past week
with rebels attempting to seize a major airport and the shooting-down of a Ukrainian military helicopter
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While pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine continue to limit the access of teams seeking to investigate MH17's wreckage
as many as 38 bodies have disappeared from the wreckage area
PHOTO: Family members of MH17 victim discuss with Malaysian Minister of Women
Rohani Abdul Karim on 20 July 2014 in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed killing all 298 on board including 80 children
The aircraft was allegedly shot down by a missile and investigations continue over the perpetrators of the attack
More than two days after a surface-to-air missile shot down MH17 over eastern Ukraine
little progress is being made in securing its massive crash site
the international investigation into the incident is being completely obstructed
DNR gunmen stop @OSCE on road to site of flight #MH17
Machine gun-wielding rebels stopped the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission in their tracks for a second day upon their arrival at the site Saturday afternoon
The area — in which the mangled and decaying bodies of hundreds of passengers and the severed parts of the Boeing 777-200 came to rest — was as lawless as the rest of the territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists
raising concerns that evidence that could show what downed the airliner could be tampered with
With pro-Russian separatists standing guard
investigators from the OSCE arrive at the crash site of the Malaysia Airline jet near the village of Hrabove in Eastern Ukraine on Friday
who were unsure of what to do other than impede an official study of the area by international monitors
29 in Antratsyt at #MH17 site say yday they helped recover passengers' passports
A motley mix of local emergency-service workers
civilian volunteers and miners — many of whom said they supported the separatist cause — investigated the wreckage
None had experience conducting such a task
International monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have even observed that rebels at MH17 crash site were "intoxicated and aggressive"
A member of the separatist group standing guard at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
OCSE had sent a team on a Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Hrabove
east of Donetsk in Ukraine after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was believed to have been shot down by a surface-to-air missile while flying over Ukrainian airspace on Thursday night
said the mission had obtained limited access to the crash site
SMM said they were “exposed to the elements”
a 26-year-old gunman dressed in fatigues and a beekeeper's mask
could barely keep himself from falling over
PHOTOS: Personal effects of MH17 passengers at crash site
The Malaysian team deployed to investigate the crash site had also not been able to gain access to the area
This prompted Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai to leave for Kiev last night to help expedite the investigation at the site
at a press conference last night said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had demanded the Ukrainian government to provide a safe corridor for the probe team to conduct investigations
He said the Prime Minister had said that any failure to so would be considered “a betrayal”
The rebels said they were under the command of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's general prosecutor
None of them said they knew the location of the flight data recorder
cockpit voice recorder and other devices that could provide information about how and when exactly the plane was downed
After two days of unfettered access and picking through the charred wreckage
the self-declared prime minister the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic
adding that pro-Russian rebels had not touched the site where Flight 17 crashed
Nobody seemed to know where the more than 80 bodies bagged throughout the day would be transferred
after hours of festering in the Ukrainian summer sun
they were loaded on to a rickety old truck bed
The Ukrainian government accused pro-Russia rebels on Saturday of taking the bodies from the crash site to a local morgue on their territory
As many as 38 bodies have disappeared from the area where MH17 crashed
Rescue workers carry a plastic bag with a dead body at the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines jet near the village of Hrabove
“Terrorists brought 38 bodies to the mortuary in Donetsk,” according to a government statement
It said that Russian experts would likely perform autopsies and that “the terrorists are seeking for the heavy load trucks to carry the plane wreckage to Russia” as part of a cover-up
The rebel commander who said he was in charge of guarding the crash site
and who identified himself as Commander Grumpy –- “because I get grumpy when I spend too much time away from destroying Ukrainian BMPs [armored fighting vehicles] and tanks
You don’t want to see me grumpy” –- said he did not know where the bodies would be taken
Body bags hold victims of the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove in eastern Ukraine on Saturday
a 20-year-old local bank employee who lives on Shirokaya Street
said she was worried where the bodies would be taken
The summer's breeze had blown the heavy
acrid smell of the decaying corpses into her home
were impressions she said would never leave her
A pro-Russian militant inspects the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
which crashed during a flight over eastern Ukraine
Grumpy told Mashable that more than 30 bodies had already been removed from the site
but said he also could not say where they had gone
Grumpy demanded that he be allowed to speak his mind
you must understand that this [Flight 17's downing] was a provocation carried out by the ‘junta’ government in Kiev,” he said
parroting a term used by Moscow to describe the government that came to power after the ouster of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February
Both the rebels and Ukraine have accused each other of shooting down the plane
But Kiev has provided audio recordings and video it said is evidence that the jetliner was shot down by rebels using a rocket launched from a Buk missile system provided to them by Russia
Securing evidence at the site is crucial to determining exactly who and what caused the crash
While bodies need to be recovered and identified
local emergency workers say it's not their job
National Transportation Safety Board and FBI teams are on their way to the country
NPR's David Schaper tells our Newscast desk
they are likely to find the same barriers as the OCSE officials
As former NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman tells NPR
I think chief among them is probably the war zone that they're in
and just the very nature of what the people on the ground are facing."
The bodies are starting to bloat and decay and need to be recovered quickly
OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw tells The Guardian
"We will keep coming back tomorrow and the next day and the next day."
Russian officials continued to deny that they had anything to do with the attack and insisted that they were not holding up the investigation
"We want international experts to arrive at the crash site as soon as possible," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian TV
He said the country would not "violate the existing international norms applicable for such cases
contrary to allegations voiced in Kiev."
PHOTO: Emergency workers load a body onto a truck at the wreckage site of MH17 near the village of Hrabove
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Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Ukraine