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             19 Killed in Fierce Fighting Around Ukraine Crash Site

   by Reuters

   Intense fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels in
   eastern Ukraine killed at least 19 civilians, local officials said on
   Tuesday, as Kyiv pressed an offensive to close in on the separatists.

   Ukrainian forces have been pushing rebel units back towards their two
   main urban strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk and have sought to
   encircle them in several places, including in the wider area where a
   Malaysian airliner crashed on July 17.

   Officials said 14 people, including five children, were killed in
   fighting on Monday evening in the town of Gorlovka/Horlivka, one of
   several spots that saw fierce battles between the rival forces in the
   last few days.

   In the city of Luhansk, officials said five civilians were killed when
   shelling hit a retirement home.

   "The enemy is throwing everything it has into the battle to complete
   encirclement of the DNR," rebel commander Igor Strelkov told
   journalists in Donetsk on Monday evening, referring to the
   self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic".

   "We were astonished by how much amour they threw into this battle,"
   said Strelkov, a Russian national, sporting a camouflage T-shirt and
   trousers.

   Rebel claims

   A rebel source in Donetsk said reinforcements including military
   equipment and fighters had crossed the nearby border with Russia into
   Ukraine. Reuters was not able to confirm that independently.

   Rebel leaders insist publicly that Moscow is not supplying them. Russia
   also denies Western accusations that it is supporting the rebellion
   with arms and troops.

   Leaders of the United States and major European powers agreed in a
   teleconference on Monday to impose wider sanctions on Russia's banking,
   technology and arms sectors over its alleged backing for the
   separatists.

   The rebels say 7,400 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured
   since Kyiv launched what it calls its "anti-terrorist" operation
   against separatists in the east in early May. Kyiv puts the toll at
   fewer than 1,500.

   A humanitarian corridor was due to open in Luhansk for six hours on
   Tuesday to allow residents to flee the fighting, but officials said
   they could not guarantee full safety.

   The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have already fled
   Ukraine's tumultuous east.

   Fighting prevents visit to crash site

   Fighting between Kiev forces and pro-Russian separatists on Tuesday
   again preventeda team of international investigators, including 38
   Dutch and 12 Australian police, from reaching the MH17 crash site in
   Ukraine, the Dutch justice ministry said, according to the French news
   agency AFP.

   "The group of Dutch and Australian experts did not leave Donetsk for
   the crash site in east Ukraine. There is currently too much fighting on
   and around the road to the crash site," the ministry said in a
   statement.

   The team was prevented from reaching the site Sunday and Monday as
   well, by fighting in the area.

   Fighting has impeded recovery of some of the remains from flight MH17
   and undermined a probe that will be crucial as Kyiv and the West trade
   recriminations with Moscow over the downing of the Boeing airliner. All
   298 people on board were killed.

   The international experts said if and when they get to the crash site,
   spread over a large area of fields, their first priority would be to
   recover any remaining body parts and then remove personal belongings
   from the area.

   Pieter Jaap Aalbersberg, a Dutch police officer in charge of the
   recovery mission for the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet, said on
   Monday the team would recover the remains of all victims of the crash
   once they gain access to the site.

   "If the experts find remains, they will be recovered immediately. We
   will be using a refrigerated train wagon near Torez. If the train is
   inaccessible for whatever reason, we will arrange other transport. We
   will not leave any remains behind," Aalbersberg told reporters.

   Aalbersberg expressed disappointment in the team's inability to reach
   the crash site in Hrabove due to heavy fighting in the area.

   The cancelled site visits have strained tempers among the observation
   team.

   The international delegation stopped Monday in Shakhtarsk, a town about
   30 kilometers (20 miles) from the fields where the Boeing 777 was
   brought down.

   The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, the first
   international body to get several experts to the site after the plane
   went down, was negotiating an access corridor overnight with both
   rebels and Ukrainian troops.

   Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/nineteen-killed-in-fierce-fighting-around-ukraine-crash-site/1967103.html