KIEV, August 8 (RIA Novosti) – The ceasefire that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced in a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) zone around the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash site is still in effect, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers said Friday.
“We draw your attention to the fact that the Ukrainian president’s order on a ceasefire within the search and rescue operation zone is still in effect. Ukrainian troops will not hold military activities within a 20-kilometer radius around the area of the tragedy,” the Cabinet of Ministers said on its official website.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian government said that the ceasefire was suspended until the second phase of the investigation begins at the plane crash site.
Earlier, Dutch authorities announced that the search for remains of the MH17 crash victims was halted due to the dangerous situation around the crash site and will resume once the security situation allows.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Region on July 17. All 298 people on board died in the crash. Kiev authorities and independence supporters have been trading blame for the downing of the plane, with independence supporters insisting they lacked the technology to shoot down a target flying at such height.
Multinational efforts to find the cause of the crash is under way, led by the Netherlands which lost 193 of its citizens. The crash site has been visited by investigators and monitors several times in the past weeks, but the visits were constantly interrupted by shelling in the region, where Kiev has been conducting a military crackdown on independence supporters since mid-April.
