MH17: Warplane 'Flew Near Doomed Airliner'

A Ukrainian military plane flew within 3-5km of flight MH17 just before the Malaysian aircraft crashed, the Russian Defence Ministry has claimed.

Moscow has also denied supplying pro-Russian rebels with BUK missile systems - the weapon that is suspected of bringing down the passenger plane - or any other military hardware.

It said it detected the Ukrainian SU-25 combat jet on radar and noticed an increase in radar activity just before the Malaysian Airlines jet carrying 298 people was destroyed.

It also said Ukrainian air defence forces had three or four battalions of BUK-M1 systems on combat duty on the day of the crash.

The claims came after Ukraine's Prime Minister said President Vladimir Putin is "on the side of the devil" as he reiterated Kiev's view that Russia had a clear role in shooting down the airliner.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the Boeing 777 was probably brought down by a BUK-M1 missile launcher.

"This system could not be operated by drunk pro-Russian terrorists. There were professional people," he told a news conference.

He also said Kiev is willing to hand over the investigation into the atrocity to its Western partners.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the evidence pointed towards flight MH17 being shot down by an SA-11 missile, also known as a BUK-M1, fired by pro-Russian separatists.

He said in the seconds before the disaster, the launch of a surface-to-air missile was detected from a rebel-held area in south-eastern Ukraine.

He said there was no evidence that Ukrainian forces had fired a single surface-to-air missile during the conflict, while pro-Russia separatists had downed more than a dozen Ukrainian aircraft over the past few months.

Mr Cameron said Mr Putin must use his influence to end the conflict in Ukraine by halting supplies and training to separatists.

Mr Putin says experts investigating the disaster should be protected

He said tougher sanctions may soon be imposed on Russia, adding he had spoken to Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande and there is "strong co-operation" within the EU for action.

The Russian President vowed to "do everything to ensure the security and safety" of experts investigating the disaster.

Mr Putin said "all people" in Ukraine are responsible for the tragedy.

However, Mr Yatsenyuk said: "I do not expect anything from the Russian government ... Putin should understand that it's enough already. This is not a conflict between Ukraine and Russia. It is an international conflict."

He added: "Russia is on the dark side, on the side of the devil."

Meanwhile, all the victims from the crash site at Grabovo have been put into refrigerated wagons and will be taken by train to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and then to Holland, Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said.

In the Netherlands, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima have met relatives of the 193 Dutch people who died on the plane.

Mr Putin has promised Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte he will help retrieve bodies and black boxes from the crash site.

However, Mary Dejevsky, a Russian and EU analyst, told Sky News that Mr Putin controls rebels in the area "far less than is commonly believed outside Russia".

She said nobody controls the area which is "one of the reasons why things are so desperate there".

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is due to chair an emergency Cobra committee meeting on the crisis today.

Trains carrying bodies are being blocked by rebels, says Kiev

The UN Security Council will today vote on a resolution to condemn the downing of the aircraft.

The resolution, drafted by Australia, demands that those responsible for bringing the plane down will be held accountable, and that armed groups do not compromise the integrity of the crash site.

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