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 "MH17, where 298 victims were killed for no reason, was shot down
by a Russian BUK missile, launched by a Russian professional crew
under an order and an instruction from the Russian military,"
President Petro Poroshenko said on the first anniversary of the
disaster.
Ukraine has consistently blamed Russia, but Poroshenko's comments
were his most direct to date.
Russia denies responsibility and in turn has pointed the finger at
Ukraine, whose forces are fighting pro-Russian separatist rebels in
the region of eastern Ukraine where the plane crashed to earth.
Poroshenko did not say what evidence he had for accusing the Russian
military. In comments later on Friday, he used a different form of
words, blaming the tragedy on Russian-trained "terrorists" - a
description often used by the Ukrainian government to describe the
separatists.
In rebel-held eastern Ukraine, a church service was held and
residents joined a procession to a gravestone near the charred area
where twisted metal and body parts came crashing down on July 17
last year.
"To the memory of the dead - 298 innocent victims of civil war," was
written on the gravestone in the village of Hrabove, where a Russian
Orthodox priest and an imam said prayers.
About 300 people brought flowers and flags of the victims'
countries, some with black ribbons attached, and released white
balloons into the sky.
"The memory of these people will always be in our hearts ... Pray
for their souls," said a priest who gave his name as Oleg.
SUNFLOWER TRIBUTE
Of the victims, 196 were from the Netherlands, where 1,500 relatives
gathered for a ceremony of music and dance at which the names of the
victims were read out.
"Today is a hard day, a day of reliving," Prime Minister Mark Rutte
told mourners. "The 298 unique people we remember today are for
always bound with your lives and those of thousands of others."
The wife of the airliner's first officer took the stage to read out
the passenger announcement her husband was never able to make.
"Salam alaikum and good evening," she said, her voice trembling. "We
will begin our descent shortly."
At Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, from where flight MH17 departed,
and at towns across the country, sunflowers were laid like those
that grow at the crash site. Flags flew at half-mast.
Western governments believe that pro-Russian rebels shot the plane
out of the sky with a Russian-supplied BUK missile. Britain and
Ukraine marked the anniversary with new appeals for an international
tribunal to prosecute suspects, an option also favored by Malaysia,
Australia, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed those calls as premature
and counter-productive on Thursday in a phone call with Rutte and
criticized "politicized" versions of the incident "planted" in
foreign media.
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Western diplomats say they are open to the prospect of a tribunal
that is not backed by the U.N. if Russia wields its Security Council
veto.
Thirty-nine of the victims were from Australia, which held a
memorial service.
"Their passing leaves a void than can never be filled and a pain
that still throbs," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.
Malaysia remembered the victims, 43 of whom were Malaysian, at a
ceremony on July 11.
STANDOFF WITH THE WEST
The differences over what happened are part of a standoff between
Russia and the West over Moscow's role in the conflict in east
Ukraine, in which more than 6,500 people have been killed since the
separatist uprising began in April 2014.
Moscow denies giving the rebels arms and soldiers. If a report from
the Dutch Safety Board, due in October, concludes that rebels shot
the plane down with a Russian-made missile, it would undermine
Russia's denials and could pave the way for court cases and
prosecutions. [ID:nL5N0ZT2FL}
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement issued
in London: "Any attempt to undermine this process would deprive the
victims of justice and cannot be tolerated."
At Hrabove, about 650 km (400 miles) east of Kiev, rebel supporters
who came to the crash site, including rebel leader Alexander
Zakharchenko, blamed the Ukrainian forces.
"The saddest thing is the Ukrainians brought it down and shifted the
blame onto us," said a separatist who uses the nom de guerre of
Sultan.
Russian officials and state media say Ukrainian forces shot down the
plane, a version which many Russians say they believe.
"I think it was the Ukrainians who shot it down. 100 percent. It
just can't be any other way," said Vladimir, a laborer in Moscow who
declined to give his full name.
(Additional reporting by Thomas Escritt in Amsterdam, Alessandra
Prentice in Kiev and Kylie MacLellan in London; Editing by Mark
Trevelyan)
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