KIEV, August 7 (RIA Novosti) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Thursday suspended the ceasefire he previously declared in the area where a Malaysian Boeing crashed in eastern Ukraine last month.
"The ceasefire in the crash zone, announced by the president of Ukraine on request from international experts will not be in place until the second phase of the investigation begins," the Ukrainian government said in a statement.
Poroshenko announced a unilateral ceasefire in a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) zone around the site of a Malaysia Airlines plane crash in mid-July to facilitate the work of international observers and investigators. Shelling in the area continued, however, interrupting the experts' work several times in the past weeks.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in the Donetsk Region eastern Ukraine on July 17. All 298 people on board, including 85 children, died in the crash.
Some 226 bodies have been taken away from the site, while the rest may remain in the field by the town of Torez, according to experts and the independence supporters of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. The plane started falling apart while still in the sky, which dispersed the parts over 50 square kilometers (19 square miles), which includes forests and ponds.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the search for remains of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 victims was halted due to the dangerous situation around the crash site.
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans wrote on his Facebook page Thursday that the work of international experts on the crash site will resume when the situation in eastern Ukraine allows.
According to Ukrainian authorities, the plane was shot down by independence supporters, while the latter deny the allegations, saying they do not have the means to hit a target flying so high.
