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MH17 crash: Ukraine rebel leader denies having Buk missile MH17 crash: More bodies to leave Ukraine for Netherlands
(about 3 hours later)
A pro-Russian rebel leader in eastern Ukraine has said his forces do not possess the Buk missile thought to have downed Malaysia airlines flight MH17. More bodies from Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 are due to arrive in the Netherlands for identification, a process experts say could take months.
Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), described evidence that showed otherwise as "fake". The remains of another 74 victims are set to leave eastern Ukraine, a week after all 298 people on board died.
However, in a separate interview a rebel military commander said he was aware rebel fighters had the weapon. Pro-Russian rebels have been widely accused of shooting down the plane.
All 298 people on MH17 died when it crashed in east Ukraine last week. UK experts are to examine data from its two flight recorders, while in Brussels EU diplomats are due to discuss new sanctions against Russia.
Ukrainian pro-Russian rebels have been widely accused of shooting the plane down. Officials in Kiev said the rebels also shot down two Ukrainian military aircraft on Wednesday. The political leader of the rebels in the Donetsk area of eastern Ukraine has admitted receiving support from "the whole Russian people" in their fight against the government in Kiev.
The Netherlands, where most of the victims were from, received the first bodies in a ceremony on Wednesday. However, in a BBC interview, Alexander Borodai - who is himself Russian - denied being a member of the Russian security services.
More bodies are expected to arrive on Thursday. National sadness
'Horror movie' The first 40 bodies arrived on Wednesday in the Netherlands, which lost 193 of its citizens in the MH17 disaster.
Speaking to the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Donetsk, Mr Borodai rejected accusations that his men neglected crash victims' bodies. The process of identifying the dead was due to get under way on Thursday at a barracks south of the city of Hilversum.
He also categorically denied the presence of the Russian-made SA-11 Buk missile system in the crash area. Western intelligence officials say this was the weapon used to shot down the aircraft. A team of Dutch forensic scientists working inside a military base will examine the contents of the coffins, says the BBC's Anna Holligan in Eindhoven.
"No, we didn't get a Buk. There were no Buks in the area" he told the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse. Two more transport aircraft will land in the afternoon. They will be met by a band playing the Last Post, followed by a minute's silence.
He initially denied knowledge of photographs allegedly showing the presence of a Buk launcher in the nearby town of Snezhnoe, before saying that such photographs were fake. The process of moving the bodies from the crash site and out of Ukraine is expected to continue at least until Friday.
Mr Borodai's comments came as Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of the rebel Vostok (East) battalion, said he was aware that a Buk launcher had been on its way from the neighbouring region of Luhansk to Snezhnoe. But there remains a discrepancy in the numbers of bodies counted by observers, and experts warn it could be months before all victims are identified.
"That Buk I know about. I heard about it. I think they [local rebels] sent it back... They probably sent it back in order to remove proof of its presence," he said in an interview with Reuters news agency. Meanwhile, UK experts working with Dutch aviation officials are beginning the process of looking at the "black box" recorders at the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough.
There has been mounting international anger at the delays in recovering the bodies. Data was successfully downloaded and verified on Wednesday, Dutch officials said. UK air accident investigators will now analyse the information.
But Mr Borodai said international observers told them to leave the bodies to the experts. They are looking for voice recordings of the last moments of the plane's flight, as well as potentially vital information from after any missile strike, which could yield clues about the impact and effect of the strike.
"So we wait a day. We wait a second day. A third day... Well, to leave the bodies there any longer, in 30 degree heat, it's absurd. It's simply inhuman. It's a scene from a horror movie," he said. The US has confirmed that it believes the plane was struck by an SA-11 Buk surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine - probably by mistake.
A spokesman for the monitors, Michael Bociurkiw, denied Mr Borodai's account. He told the BBC: "It is not consistent with our mandate to tell people what to do. We're here to monitor, observe and report."
Buk surface-to-air missile systemBuk surface-to-air missile system
Also known as SA-11 Gadfly (or newer SA-17 Grizzly)Also known as SA-11 Gadfly (or newer SA-17 Grizzly)
Russian-made, mobile, medium range systemRussian-made, mobile, medium range system
Weapons: Four surface-to-air missilesWeapons: Four surface-to-air missiles
Missile speed (max): Mach 3Missile speed (max): Mach 3
Target altitude (max): 22,000 metres (72,000ft)Target altitude (max): 22,000 metres (72,000ft)
Source: Global SecuritySource: Global Security
Grief and respect In a frank interview on Wednesday, a leading rebel commander in eastern Ukraine, said he knew a battalion linked to the city of Luhansk did have a Buk launcher at the time of the MH17 crash.
In the Netherlands, two military planes carrying the first 40 coffins landed at Eindhoven air base on Wednesday afternoon. They were met by members of the Dutch royal family, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and hundreds of victims' relatives. "That Buk I know about. I heard about it. I think they [local rebels] sent it back," Alexander Khodakovsky told Reuters news agency.
Dutch churches rang their bells for five minutes before the planes landed, and flags of all the nations affected by the disaster have been flying at half mast. There was also a minute's silence. "They probably sent it back in order to remove proof of its presence," he said.
The coffins were slowly loaded into a fleet of waiting hearses which then moved off in motorcades. His comments contradicted a statement by Alexander Borodai, who used his BBC interview to deny the rebels had the weapon.
The bodies have been taken to the Korporaal van Oudheusden barracks south of the city of Hilversum for identification, a process that could take months. "No, we didn't get a Buk. There were no Buks in the area" Mr Borodai said.
Separately, the Dutch air safety board said the cockpit voice recorder from flight MH17 had been successfully downloaded and contained "valid data from the flight".
The "black box" flight data recorders are being examined at the headquarters of the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough.
The US has presented evidence in Washington that officials say points to the use of a Buk missile against the civilian plane.
They said the "most plausible explanation" was that rebels mistook the airliner for another aircraft.
Meanwhile, fighting between Ukrainian government forces and rebels around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Wednesday reportedly left 16 people dead.Meanwhile, fighting between Ukrainian government forces and rebels around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Wednesday reportedly left 16 people dead.
Officials in Kiev said the rebels also shot down two Ukrainian military aircraft on Wednesday.
A statement from overall military commander Igor Strelkov posted on a rebel website said he had withdrawn his fighters from the outskirts of Donetsk.A statement from overall military commander Igor Strelkov posted on a rebel website said he had withdrawn his fighters from the outskirts of Donetsk.
He said they had pulled back and were prepared to defend their positions.He said they had pulled back and were prepared to defend their positions.
The fighting in eastern Ukraine erupted in April and is believed to have claimed more than 1,000 lives.The fighting in eastern Ukraine erupted in April and is believed to have claimed more than 1,000 lives.
Are you in east Ukraine? Have you been affected by the violence? You can email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, using the subject line 'Ukraine'.