Michael Bociurkiw

The city of Kharkiv, Ukraine, was shaken by a series of explosions this morning, with Mayor Igor Terekhov confirming about 15 blasts. Initial assessments suggest that Russian missile strikes deliberately targeted the city's power infrastructure, resulting in a partial blackout and disrupting essential services.

Bodies recovered from the crash site of Malaysian flight MH17 will be flown to the Netherlands Wednesday as the country mourns 193 citizens killed in the crash. 

According to the BBC, the he first bodies are expected to arrive by plane at Eindhoven in the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon. 

Members of the Dutch royal family and Prime Minister Mark Rutte are to meet the plane.

Pro-Russian separatists are still keeping custody of about 200 (out of 298) victims of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777's plane crash in Eastern Ukraine.

Kiev officials, but also representatives of the militiamen, say international experts have limited access to the site of the wreckage.

International monitors said Sunday that pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine had loaded scores of bodies from the crash site of downed Malaysian jet MH17 into train wagons as grieving families clamoured to have their loved ones brought home.
      

OSCE wants Russians to join Ukraine mission

MOSCOW -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has called for including Russian representatives in its Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

This is according to spokesman Michael Bociurkiw, quoted by Itar-Tass.

The last four remaining OSCE observers who were abducted by rebels in Ukraine have been freed, as part of President Petro Poroshenko’s peace plan.