Part of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Photo: Reuters
A member of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's team of international observers has said it appears that part of the MH17 wreckage had been cut into.
'Major pieces, I'm looking at the tailfin ... they do look different than when we first saw them, in that they have been cut into,' OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw told the BBC world service.
'One main cone section has been almost split in half.'
The OSCE has visited the crash site each day since Friday, though their access to the site was initially very limited.
Two days ago they observed that the cockpit section and part of first class were being cut into with a diesel power saw by uniformed men.
He could not identify who was doing that work.
'The time has come for professionals to be here and do the analysis,' Mr Bociurkiw said.
The OSCE has facilitated three different groups of experts getting access to the site: first a Ukrainian group, then a Dutch forensic group on Monday, then three Malaysian experts on Tuesday.
Ukraine army spokesman Colonel Andriy Lysenko claimed that Russian military experts, disguised as citizens, had been interfering with evidence at the scene since the crash.
The site is still under separatist control. On Tuesday morning a team of international observers and a crash investigation group including some Malaysian members arrived to continue inspection of the wreckage under the watching eye of armed militiamen.
More than 140 square kilometres have now been examined by Ukraine emergency services since their arrival on Saturday, however professional crash investigators have only recently arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to attack separatist forces in the country's east, even while investigations at the crash site continue, Colonel Lysenko told journalists on Tuesday morning.
He said the army had committed to a ''non-combat'' area around the crash site with a 'radius of 20 kilometres, a diameter of 40 kilometres'.
Related Coverage 
Entities 0 Name: Ukraine Count: 3 1 Name: OSCE Count: 3 2 Name: Europe Count: 1 3 Name: Organisation for Security Count: 1 4 Name: Michael Bociurkiw Count: 1 5 Name: BBC world service Count: 1 6 Name: Reuters Count: 1 7 Name: Malaysian Count: 1 8 Name: Malaysia Airlines Count: 1 9 Name: Lysenko Count: 1 10 Name: Bociurkiw Count: 1 11 Name: Andriy Lysenko Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1rk72iF Title: Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane crash in Ukraine Description: A Malaysia Airlines plane en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in eastern Ukraine. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board the Boeing-777 aircraft. Tuesday, July 22 The Dutch government has declared Wednesday a day of national mourning as the country prepares for the arrival of the first bodies of victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
