KYIV. July 31 (Interfax) - Ukraine's National Security and Defense council on Wednesday denied that government forces were currently involved in any fighting anywhere near the crash site in Donetsk region of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.
"The Ukrainian military neither did nor does conduct any hostilities [in the area]," and so allegations that government forces are blocking the investigation of the July 17 crash are groundless, council spokesman Andriy Lysenko told a briefing.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had accused the Ukrainian government of raising obstacles to investigators, and militia leaders have repeatedly claimed that the Ukrainian army's fighting in the vicinity of the town of Shakhtarsk prevents international investigators from reaching the crash site.