The Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic will guarantee the safety of the Malaysian criminologists scheduled to work at the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash site.
“We are ready to tighten security on the plane crash site for the time of the Malaysian criminologists’ visit, but we have not received an appropriate request yet,” the Donetsk News Agency reported, citing the Defense Ministry.
The report states that no special security measures are currently being taken on the crash site. “All main investigative events were conducted last year, but we are ready to take measures to avoid sabotage,” the report says.
Eduard Basurin related to Donetsk People’s Republic Defense Ministry, for his part, said Malaysian experts will be safe when they work on the crash site.
“This place is deep inside our territory. It’s safe there,” he said.
Donetsk People’s Republic Emergency Situations Minister Oleksiy Kostrubytsky told Interfax their authorities will allow the Malaysian criminologists to take any plane debris and other physical evidence they need from the crash site.
“No doubt, we will let them do all the work that they need to do on the crash site, there will be no obstacles. They will be able to take and carry all debris, evidence and everything they need of what they will site on the site,” the minister told Interfax.
Kostrubytsky also said he guarantees the Malaysian experts full safety during this work.
“We are ready to ensure the safety of all Malaysian criminologists during their work on the Boeing crash site and during their stay in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” he said.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was flying from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when it crashed in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on the territory controlled by the militia on July 17. All 298 people on board were killed. Among the people were 192 citizens of the Netherlands, 44 citizens of Malaysia (including the 15 crew members), and 27 citizens of Australia. Among the crash victims were also citizens of Indonesia, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.
According to tentative results of the international investigation, the crash was caused by an outside impact on the plane.
