--- description: Ukrainian officials accused separatist fighters of lining the roads to the MH17 crash site with land mines, making it impossible for international investigators to access the scene of the crash. title: Ukraine: Roads to MH17 Crash Site Lined With Land Mines image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb083b491716a9d22/69869d5dcd804d40c0ccc210/452666764.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ukraine Official: Rebels Placed Land Mines on Roads to MH17 Crash Site  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 30, 2014 12:29 PM CUT  A piece of debris of the fuselage at the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Grabovo, east of Donetsk, on July 25, 2014. A piece of debris of the fuselage at the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Grabovo, east of Donetsk, on July 25, 2014.Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 30, 2014 12:29 PM CUT An Ukrainian official accused pro-Russian separatist fighters of lining the roads to the crash site of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 with land mines Wednesday, making it impossible for international investigators to access the scene of the crash. The Associated Press [reports](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ukraine-official-rebels-lay-mines-crash-site-24768979 "undefined") that observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe attempted to reach the crash site on Wednesday, only to be turned back after an encounter with rebels in the area. The areas surrounding the crash site have been punctuated by heavy fighting, with at least 19 people killed in the past 24 hours, AP [reports](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ukraine-official-rebels-lay-mines-crash-site-24768979 "undefined"). Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, said that rebels had installed heavy artillery in and around the 13.5 square mile crash site, [according](http://online.wsj.com/articles/still-no-safe-passage-to-malaysia-airlines-crash-site-1406714025 "undefined") to the Wall Street _Journal_. Lysenko also accused rebels of mining the approaches to the area. “This makes the work of the international experts impossible,” Lysenko said. \[[_AP_](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ukraine-official-rebels-lay-mines-crash-site-24768979 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3057519/ukraine-mh17-land-mines-rebels/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3057519/ukraine-mh17-land-mines-rebels/"},"headline":"Ukraine Official: Rebels Placed Land Mines on Roads to MH17 Crash Site","datePublished":"2014-07-30T12:29:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:24:52.370Z","description":"Spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council says it has been \"impossible\" for international investigators to reach site","url":"https://time.com/3057519/ukraine-mh17-land-mines-rebels/","keywords":["Ukraine","#MH17"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb083b491716a9d22/69869d5dcd804d40c0ccc210/452666764.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb083b491716a9d22/69869d5dcd804d40c0ccc210/452666764.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CRISIS-MALAYSIA-AVIATION-CRASH","caption":"A piece of debris of the fuselage at the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Grabovo, east of Donetsk, on July 25, 2014.","creditText":"Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3057519/ukraine-mh17-land-mines-rebels/","name":"Ukraine Official: Rebels Placed Land Mines on Roads to MH17 Crash Site"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: TIME's Simon Shuster And Getty's Brendan Hoffman on The MH17 Aftermath","description":"The author of this week's TIME cover story and an acclaimed Getty photographer paint a rarely seen image – through words and photographs – of the aftermath of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TUxxp7Jz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-24T02:21:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TUxxp7Jz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3057519/ukraine-mh17-land-mines-rebels/","duration":"PT5M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3057519/ukraine-mh17-land-mines-rebels/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```