The militias fighting in eastern Ukraine against the government troops have no weapons systems that could have shot down the Malaysia Airlines plane on Thursday, the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, Vitaly Yaryoma, stated citing a military report submitted to President Petro Poroshenko.
Considering the high altitude the MH17 was flying, it could not have been taken down by a portable anti-aircraft missile or anti-aircraft cannon, which the Ukrainian militia have been using to attack Ukrainian military aircraft.
Earlier there were reports that the militia had captured a Buk missile launcher, which could have done it, but Kiev insisted that the system was out of order and could not be repaired by the militia.
A major Dutch AIDS expert, Joep Lange, was among the passengers of Malaysian airplane that downed in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine. David Cooper, a professor at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales, who was working with Lange, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"Joep had an absolute commitment to HIV treatment and care in Asia and Africa," Cooper added.
According to unconfirmed reports from Australian news outlets, over a hundred of the plane’s passengers were heading to the 20th International AIDS Conference which is scheduled to start on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia.
A second flight recorder from the Malaysian airliner brought down in Ukraine has been recovered, a Reuters cameraman reported from the scene. On Thursday, local militia controlling the area reported finding the first flight recorder of the Boeing 777.
Astounding map of the airspace over Ukraine after #MH17 was downed: http://t.co/yclqVLgMxY pic.twitter.com/crA6cLGUfv
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 17, 2014
People are bringing flowers and candles to the Malaysian Embassy in Moscow to mourn the victims of the airplane crash in Donetsk Region, reports Gazeta.ru.
Malaysia Airlines is preparing a team of investigators, which will be sent to Ukraine to investigate the fatal crash of its Boeing 777, the company said in a statement. It didn’t state the number of specialists it is sending.
Indonesia's president said on Friday he had instructed all national airlines to avoid flying over Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and other conflict areas after a Malaysian airliner with 298 people aboard was shot down.
"I have issued instructions for Indonesian airlines to avoid conflict areas, especially Ukraine ... and Gaza strip," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in a televised address.
World leaders demanded an international investigation into the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine, in which all 298 people on board were killed. (Reuters)
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Friday morning at 10:00 am EST (1400 GMT) on Ukraine.
The US has urged all parties in the conflict in Ukraine to support “an immediate cease-fire in order to ensure safe and unfettered access to the crash site for international investigators and in order to facilitate the recovery of remains,” The White House Office of the Press Secretary said.
