SYDNEY: Australia's prime minister voiced deep concern on Monday that Russian-backed rebels remained in control of the crash site of a Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine, saying the site looked more like a "garden clean-up" than a forensic investigation.
At least 27 Australian passengers were among the 298 people aboard Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, shot down over eastern Ukraine in an attack the West has blamed on separatist rebels armed by Russia.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, speaking on a breakfast radio show, said he had spoken "overnight" to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time about the disaster, amid mounting horror over the treatment of victims' remains.
"He said all the right things and now we need him to be as good as his word," Abbott told 2GB radio, declining to comment in detail about his discussion with Putin.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday demanded Moscow take responsibility for the actions of pro-Russian rebels whom Washington suspects of downing the jet with a missile. He expressed disgust at their "grotesque" mishandling of the bodies.
Moscow denies any involvement in the disaster and has blamed the Ukrainian military.
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