Ukraine-Russia Row Over Who 'Shot Down' Plane

Moscow has hit back after the Kiev government claimed pro-Russian separatists shot down a passenger plane, killing all 298 people on board, including 189 Dutch and nine Britons.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur at an altitude of 33,000ft (10,000m) when contact was lost on Thursday afternoon in eastern Ukraine, close to the border with Russia.

It came down near the village of Grabovo, Donetsk in an area where Ukrainian forces have been fighting the rebels.

An emergency worker at the scene of the crash

An adviser to Kiev's interior ministry said the Boeing 777 was hit by a Buk ground-to-air missile and its president Petro Poroshenko called it an "act of terrorism".

But the Russian defence ministry reportedly pointed the finger at its neighbour, saying it picked up radar activity from a Ukrainian Buk missile system south of Donetsk when the airliner came down.

Glenn Thomas was among the victims of the tragedy

Sky's Katie Stallard said: "That doesn't correlate with the geography. This was a plane flying over territory that the Ukrainian government would perceive as friendly. Territory that they control.

"It is a slightly counterintuitive suggestion that they would perceive that aircraft as a threat when it is heading away from their friendly airspace and towards the Russian border."

Flames rise from wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines jet

Separatist leader Alexander Borodai said Ukrainian government forces were responsible, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "The state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility."

However, a US official said Washington strongly suspected it was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired by rebels.

And the Ukrainian security council claimed no missiles had been fired from the armouries of its armed forces.

Mr Putin has called for a ceasefire between the warring sides in the months-long conflict.

Among the British victims of the crash were Glenn Thomas and Richard Mayne. Newcastle United fans John Alder and Liam Sweeney, who were travelling to see their football team play in New Zealand, also died, according to reports.

Flight MH17 taking off at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands

British Prime Minister David Cameron called the catastrophe "an absolutely appalling, shocking, horrific incident" and if the jet was shot down, those responsible "must be brought to account".

The cockpit and one of the turbines were found over half a mile apart, and residents said the tail was six miles away, indicating the aircraft most likely broke up before hitting the ground.

Many of the bodies strewn across the fields were largely intact - some of them were still strapped into their plane seats. People who live in the area have described seeing bodies falling through the sky.

The last known location of flight MH17

Pro-Russian separatists said they found one of the "black box" recorders and rescue workers have recovered a second flight recorder.

There were 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. Among the victims were three infants.

Britain has joined the US and other countries in calling for an international probe into the disaster and American Vice-President Joe Biden said the jet appeared to have been deliberately "blown out of the sky".

Armed Russian separatists inspect the wreckage

Stallard said Igor Strelkov, the commander of the pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic, appeared to have boasted about the incident on social media.

In one deleted message recovered by Sky News, he allegedly wrote: "We warned you not to fly over our sky."

The wreckage was scattered over a wide area

Ukraine's security service also released what it claimed was a recording of an intercepted phone call between two Russian military intelligence officers, discussing the downing of the plane.

Malaysia Airlines, still reeling from the loss of flight MH370, has said the route taken by flight MH17 had been declared safe by civil aviation authorities.

A distressed woman waits for information in Kuala Lumpur

However, it has offered all passengers booked on any route before July 26 a full refund if they do not want to travel.

:: Malaysia Airlines has set up an emergency line for worried relatives: 00 6 037 884 1234.

The Foreign Office helpline is 0207 008 1500.

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