MH17: Dutch and Australian experts in fresh attempt to reach crash site

Dutch authorities decide against armed mission to secure site amid fears they could be dragged into Ukraine's civil war

Washington released new photographs to bolster its claim that Russia – blamed by the west for stoking the insurgency by supplying arms including the missile that allegedly shot down MH17 – was taking a direct role in the conflict by firing into Ukraine.

Dutch and Australian police will make a fresh attempt to reach the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in insurgent-held east Ukraine on Monday, after heavy fighting nearby scuppered their previous efforts.

Amid international recriminations over the chaos on the ground blocking access to the site, both sides in Ukraine's war blamed each other, with Kiev accusing the rebels of destroying evidence and the insurgents saying Ukraine's army was targeting civilians.

About 1,000 people have been killed during the conflict, and the United Nations estimates that 230,000 have fled their homes.

The Red Cross has said the country was in a state of civil war – a classification that would make parties in the conflict liable to prosecution for war crimes.