Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk: Ukraine is ready to transfer to Holland the right to coordinate the investigation of the MH17 tragedy

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Kyiv, July 21, 2014  – Ukraine is ready to transfer the role of coordinator in investigating how the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down to the Kingdom of the Netherlands on petition of Holland representatives, reported Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk at a press briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center.  “As the side that suffered most, the Netherlands may lead the investigation in close coordination and cooperation with all other parties,” he noted. “All Ukrainian law enforcement bodies and international partners are already involved in conducting an all-encompassing, transparent, and full-fledged international investigation of the tragedy.”

A. Yatseniuk also stated that as of today, 277 bodies of innocent victims of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 crash have been found, 251 of which have already been loaded into four cars as part of two train echelons. However, as the trains are being blocked by armed terrorists, they have not departed from the station in the city of Torez yet. “Controlled and coordinated from Russia, they are not letting us send the bodies to Amsterdam,” he noted. According to A. Yatseniuk, Ukraine is ready to transport the bodies to Holland to conduct a forensic investigation, as one of the best clinics of the according profile is located in Amsterdam.

When answering the questions of international journalists regarding the circumstances of the tragedy, the Prime Minister of Ukraine emphasized that all preliminary evaluations point towards the part that the Russian Federation undoubtedly played in this crime against humanity. “They are people trained on Russian territory,” he noted. “It is from Russia that the criminals received weapons, money, training and skills.” A. Yatseniuk reiterated the availability of evidence that Russia had a hand the tragedy, which is also confirmed by foreign intelligence data.

“All those to blame for this horrible tragedy will be subject to justice, including the country that stood behind the scenes of this crime,” emphasised the Ukrainian Prime Minister. He added that at the moment there has been no encouragement of the investigation and return of the bodies of the deceased to their homeland on part of the Russian Federation.