Putin and Australian Prime Minister Abbott have discussed by telephone the need to allow experts to work safely in MH17 crash zone, Reuters reports, citing the Kremlin. They were said to have agreed that a cease-fire is needed.
Reuters quotes extensively from a British Foreign Office statement accusing Moscow of lying about MH17 and saying it is "highly likely" the Malaysian airliner was shot down from a Russian-backed separatist area by a Russian-supplied missile. Here's part of the Reuters report, which you can find here:
The statement came after Russia's ambassador to Britain, Alexander Yakovenko, told reporters on Thursday that allegations Russia was involved in the downing crash "didn't hold water".
The Foreign Office statement, entitled "Russian myths on MH17," dismissed Kremlin assertions that it only provides humanitarian assistance to the separatists and that Western evidence to the contrary lacked credibility.
"Given the large and growing body of credible evidence, without compelling information to the contrary, we believe it is highly likely that that flight MH17 was shot down by the Russian SA-11 surface to air missile system, operating from within a Russian-backed separatist area in eastern Ukraine," it said.
"Russia has made a number of contradictory, mutually-exclusive claims which blame Ukraine for this attack, but they have no basis in fact," it added.
"Russia has not provided any evidence to support its claims."
The statement said that journalists at the scene have reported that Russian-backed separatists were preventing access to the site by investigators, deliberately tampering with the crash site, moving bodies and stealing the personal possessions of victims.
"It added, without elaborating: "Worryingly, we are aware of information suggesting that separatists were planning to scatter parts of other aircraft on the site."
From AP:
Ukrainian officials said their forces advanced to the outskirts of a key town north of Donetsk on Saturday in hopes of retaking the stronghold held for months by pro-Russia rebels.
The move comes as Ukrainian forces appear to have gained some momentum recently by retaking control of territory from the rebels. But Russia also appears to becoming more involved in the fighting, with the U.S. and Ukraine accusing Moscow of moving heavily artillery across the border to the rebels.
Ukrainian national security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Ukrainian forces were outside Horlikva, just north of the regional center of Donetsk.
"The direct route is open for the forces of the anti-terrorist operation to the capital of the Donbass region — the city of Donetsk," Lysenko said.
Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who was added this week to the EU's sanctions targets, announced flippantly via Instagram that he was creating his own "sanctions list" that would include U.S. President Barack Obama, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherin Ashton, [and] European Parliament President Martin Schulz. I have asked them" -- he said, presumably of Chechen authorities -- "to freeze the bank accounts and assets of all kinds. From July 27 the listed politicians are denied entry to the Chechen Republic."
CNN confirms earlier reports the release of its local assistant, Anton Skiba: