Fierce fighting in Ukraine prevents Dutch forces reachingMH17 crash site

The unarmed policemen joined small teams of Australian and Dutch investigators already in Donetskon Sunday morning.

Najob Razak, the Malaysian prime minister, said on Sunday that he had agreed with AlexanderBorodai, the key separatist leader in the area, to allow international police access.

Tony Abbot, the Australian prime minister, said Australian policemen should also be deployedshortly.

The police were due to travel to the crash site to "provide protection" for crash investigators, butheavy fighting - which erupted despite a truce that is meant to hold in the immediate vicinity of thecrash - made their visit impossible.

Nervous rebel fighters were said to have turned back journalists headed toward the crash site onSunday as skirmishes and shelling were reported near the main crash site at the hamlet of Grabovo.

The news came as the Ukrainian government continued an offensive aimed at encircling andretaking the regional capital Donetsk, which has been in rebel hands since April.

Twitter users said government tanks had already forced their way into Torez, previously in the heartof rebel-controlled territory, by early afternoon.

The reports could not immediately be verified.

Shelling continued in northern Donetsk, while fighting was also reported in Horlivka, the rebelstronghold town to the north west of Donetsk.

Horlivka is under the control of Igor "Bes" Bezler, a notorious commander who even other rebelleaders have described as a loose cannon. Mr Bezler, whose nom de guerre means "demon" or"devil", has been implicated in the MH17 crash.

Intercepted phone calls released by the Ukrainian Security Service appear to feature Mr Bezlerbeing informed of the crash which turned out to be MH17.

Fighting has also been reported in the strategic rail and road junction of Debaltsevo.

Twenty to 30 civilians had been killed in intense rocket and mortar fire on the outskirts of the townby early afternoon, Ukrainian media reported.

Human Rights Watch has criticised both sides of the conflict for causing civilian casualties, warningthat Ukrainian and rebel forces may both be guilty of war crimes for such shelling.

Ukrainian officials have denied targeting civilian areas, and even suggested that the repeatedshelling of some suburbs of Donetsk in the past week was the work of rebels flying Ukrainiancolours.

That seems unlikely.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10993931/Fierce-fighting-in-Ukraine-prevents-Dutch-forces-reaching-MH17-crash-site.html