KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — The remains of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash arrived in territory held by the Ukrainian government on Tuesday on their way to the Netherlands, after delays and haphazard treatment of the bodies that put pressure on European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to impose tougher economic sanctions on Russia. 
 
 Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, center, talks with Croatia's Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic, left, and Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, during the EU foreign ministers council at the... (Associated Press) 
 
 Banners are held up by protesters during a protest in front of Ukraine embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. Protesters marched on the Russian embassy and Ukraine embassy in Kuala... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man walks past a piece of the crashed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine Monday, July 21, 2014. Four days after Flight 17 was shot out of the sky, international... (Associated Press) 
 
 A toy is placed at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine Monday, July 21, 2014. Four days after Flight 17 was shot out of the sky, international investigators... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters stage a rally in front of Ukraine embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. Protesters marched on the Russian embassy and Ukraine embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, waving... (Associated Press) 
 
 British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, right, talks with Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Paet during an EU foreign ministers council at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, July 22,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters hold banner during a protest in front of Ukraine embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. The protesters marched on the embassies of Ukraine and Russia in Kuala Lumpur on... (Associated Press) 
 
 A refrigerated train loaded with bodies of the passengers of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 departs Kharkiv railway station, Ukraine, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. The train carrying the remains of people killed... (Associated Press) 
 
 A pro-Russian fighter walks past a piece of the crashed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine Monday, July 21, 2014. Four days after Flight 17 was shot out of the sky,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, left, talks with Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, during the EU foreign ministers council at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, July... (Associated Press) 
 
 Russia Ambassador to Malaysia Lyudmila Vorobyeva speaks during a press conference on a Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 tragedy at her embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. Vorobyeva said... (Associated Press) 
 
 The crash site itself, in farmland held by the pro-Russian separatists who the West accuses of shooting down the plane, remained unsecured five days after the disaster — another source of frustration for officials around the world eager to establish the facts of the case. 
 
 After an overnight journey, a refrigerated train carrying the bodies pulled into a station in Kharkiv, a government-controlled city where Ukrainian authorities have set up their crash investigation center. Government spokesman Oleksander Kharchenko said Ukraine "will do our best" to send the bodies to the Netherlands on Tuesday. Of the 298 people who died aboard the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight, 193 were Dutch citizens. 
 
 In Brussels, European Union foreign ministers were discussing whether to impose more sanctions in response to the disaster. Europe and the United States have imposed targeted economic sanctions against Russia for supporting Ukraine's five-month insurgency that began after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by protesters in February. 
 
 The rebels control a swathe of territory in two eastern provinces, and have battled Ukrainian troops with heavy weapons including tanks and missile launchers that the West says came from Russia. Russia denies supporting the insurgency. 
 
 The sanctions so far have focused on individuals instead of entire sectors of the economy, though the EU was moving already to broaden them before the downing of the plane. British Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday that the jet's destruction on Thursday has drastically changed the situation, and that the Russians cannot expect continued access to European markets and capital if they continued to fuel a war against another European country. 
 
 Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius blamed "terrorists supplied by Moscow" for shooting down the airliner, killing all aboard. He said he hoped the EU will impose beefed-up sanctions on Russia. His call for an arms embargo was a direct challenge to France, which is building two warships for the Russian navy. 
 
 At the crash site near the village of Hrabove, a few rebel fighters accompanied observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The farmland where the wreckage is scattered was otherwise unguarded and unsecured. Even the red-and-white tape that had sealed off the fields had been torn away. 
 
 In some places, the smell of decay and flies suggested the presence of remains under the wreckage, and observers said Monday that not all bodies had been recovered. 
 
 About 70 villagers, most of them older women wearing headscarves, gathered across the road from the site to sing Ukrainian Orthodox hymns at a memorial service led by several black-robed priests. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Dahlburg contributed from Brussels. Also contributing were David McHugh in Kiev and Lucien Kim in Hrabove, Ukraine. ||||| From a cavernous situation room inside the Russian Ministry of Defence, the Lieutenant-General set out Russia's version of events. 
 
 The briefing was carried live on Russian state TV and handed out on DVDs by Russia's ambassador to Malaysia. 
 
 They claim to have detected a Ukrainian military aircraft within 3-5km of the Malaysian Airliner on Thursday. 
 
 Russian ambassador to Malaysia, Lyudmila Vorobyeva 
 
 "The SU-25 fighter jet can gain an altitude of 10km, according to its specification," Lt Gen Kartopolov explained (which happens to be the exact altitude at which MH17 was flying). 
 
 "It's equipped with air-to-air R-60 missile that can hit a target at a distance up to 12km, up to 5km for sure. 
 
 "We would like to get an explanation as to why the military jet was flying along a civil aviation corridor at almost the same time and at the same level as a passenger plane." 
 
 They also claim to have detected an unusual increase in Ukrainian radar activity leading up to the incident, and that the airliner came down "within the operating zone" of Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile defences. 
 
 He showed satellite images of a Ukrainian base close to Donetsk, pointing out that its surface-to-air missile units were missing on the day of the crash. 
 
 He then appeared to claim that one of the units had moved into rebel-controlled territory on the morning of the crash. 
 
 Finally, Russia categorically denied supplying the rebels with Buk surface-to-air missile systems, or indeed any other weaponry. 
 
 Now, firstly, it's worth saying there is a propaganda war in both directions here, which has been going on for several months, and that both sides are pursuing interests beyond the immediate tragedy of MH17. 
 
 A Russian Buk missile launcher 
 
 But the questions Russia presents "that Kiev must answer" raise a few questions themselves. 
 
 The SU-25 "fighter jet" Russia claims to have identified close to the airliner is a ground attack aircraft - according to its manufacturer its maximum service height, without weapons, is 7,000m - 3km short of MH17. 
 
 As Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer pointed out, it's also too slow: "They should have at least claimed it was an SU-27," he said. 
 
 And if the rebels don't have the Buk missile system, or indeed any other Russian-supplied weaponry - how did they target the dozen Ukrainian military aircraft they have previously boasted of shooting down? 
 
 This included an Antonov-26 transport aircraft, flying at an altitude of 6,500m last week. 
 
 Part of the wreckage at the crash site in Ukraine 
 
 It is possible of course that the rebels have acquired weapons from Ukrainian military bases, although the government in Kiev insists it can account for all of its missile systems. 
 
 And what exactly is the case Russia is setting out? Is it suggesting the Ukrainian SU-25 (despite its technical limitations) shot down the passenger jet in mid-air? 
 
 And why? The plane would seem to have been travelling in the wrong direction for Ukrainian forces to have perceived it as a hostile aircraft coming from Russia, and the rebels don't have an air force. 
 
 So are they seriously suggesting the Ukrainians deliberately moved their missiles on to rebel-held territory and shot the airliner down as part of some sort of nefarious plan to frame the rebels and turn world opinion against them? 
 
 But then Russia doesn't need to prove its case - all it needs is to create one, to insist that there are different versions of events, that there is credible claim and counter-claim. 
 
 In much the same manner as a criminal defence barrister, Russia doesn't have to demonstrate that its alleged client is innocent - just to establish enough doubt in the minds of the jury - in this case the international community - that they can't be completely sure. ||||| View Slideshow Ukrainian emergency workers carry a victim's body in a plastic bag at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove in eastern Ukraine on Monday. Associated Press 
 
 MOSCOW—Russia, in its first detailed version of events surrounding the final minutes of Malaysia Airlines 3786.KU -2.22% Malaysian Airline System Bhd Malaysia RM0.22 -0.01 -2.22% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 32.44M P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap RM3.68 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee N/A 07/26/14 MH17 Crash Site Recovery Deals... 07/26/14 What's News: World-Wide 07/25/14 White House Says Putin 'Culpab... More quote details and news » 3786.KU in Your Value Your Change Short position Flight 17, dismissed accusations that pro-Moscow rebels shot down the plane, instead suggesting that a Ukrainian fighter plane or missile systems could have been involved. 
 
 President Obama speaks on the situation in Ukraine, urging Russia to compel separatists to cooperate. WSJ's Tim Hanrahan and the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute deputy director William Pomeranz join Lunch Break with Tanya Rivero to discuss. Photo: Getty 
 
 What are the next steps in the recovery of the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, and what issues do investigators face at international crash sites? Former National Transportation Safety Board chairman Jim Hall joins the News Hub with Sara Murray with details. Photo: Getty Images. 
 
 The elaborate, televised Defense Ministry presentation—at odds with Western and Ukrainian accusations that Kremlin-backed insurgents shot down the plane—came as the U.S. and Russia clashed at the U.N. Security Council on Monday. There, both countries voted in favor of a unanimous resolution that condemned the downing of the jet and called for an independent international investigation into the incident. (Follow the latest updates on the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine.) 
 
 Russia sought to use both forums to push back against growing international criticism and U.S. and Ukrainian assertions that Moscow could have provided the missile system that brought down the plane. American officials charged that the Russian version of events was a propaganda effort aimed at slowing the international community's response to the geopolitical crisis—or weakening proposed new sanctions to punish Moscow for its role in the conflict. 
 
 At the news conference broadcast from Moscow, Russian air force chief Lt. Gen. Igor Makushev didn't say outright who the ministry thought had fired the missile that apparently brought down the airliner Thursday. Nor did he provide any photographic, radar or satellite evidencethat would show a missile track. 
 
 But he said that Russian radar had spotted a second aircraft in the ill-fated airliner's vicinity just before the crash and that it was likely a Ukrainian fighter jet. A graphic that Gen. Makushev said was based on radar data depicted four commercial planes in the area shortly before the crash, as well as the alleged Ukrainian fighter jet. (View an interactive seating chart of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.) 
 
 His presentation also suggested an alternative theory, that satellite imagery showed Ukraine also had moved missile systems into the area before the incident. The air force chief presented several slides of satellite images he said showed the Ukrainian missile-system movements. 
 
 The suggested version of events echoed much of what has been reported on Russian state television in recent days, which has suggested that Ukraine could have shot down the plane, possibly via one of its fighter planes. 
 
 U.S. officials dismissed the Russian government's claim that a second plane was present when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down last week as "desperate" propaganda. 
 
 U.S. officials didn't provide their own evidence to back their arguments. But they pointed to Ukraine's statements Monday that the country's fighter jets were on the ground at the time of the crash. 
 
 U.S. officials also said that Ukrainian fighters can't operate at 30,000 feet, where Flight 17 was cruising. "The Russian government has a propaganda machine second to none, as these latest conspiracy theories demonstrate," one U.S. official said. 
 
 The Obama administration reiterated its findings that Russia was the likely supplier of advanced SA-11 antiaircraft missiles to separatists, who fired it at the Malaysia Airlines jetliner. The White House said that an international case was building that indicated Russian complicity in the tragedy. 
 
 "What's clear is that there is a picture that's coming into focus," said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary. "And Russian claims to the contrary are getting both more desperate and much harder to believe." 
 
 The war of words spilled over into the U.N. Security Council, where after the resolution vote, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power and Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin gave sharply different versions of who was likely responsible for shooting down the Boeing 777 on Thursday, killing all 298 people on board. 
 
 "Russia has begun to blame Ukraine itself for the attack though the missile came from separatist territory that Russia knows full well Ukraine has not yet reclaimed," Ms. Power said. 
 
 "Russia must recognize that no move on the geopolitical chessboard with the West can offset the pain being felt by the passengers' families," she said. 
 
 But Mr. Churkin chastised Ms. Power in the council chamber, saying, "There can be no jumping to conclusions or political statements here." 
 
 Mr. Churkin said Ukraine would have to answer to international investigators regarding the activities of its air-traffic controllers, why a Ukrainian antiaircraft missile battery in the area of the crash was "hastily removed," and why Ukrainian radar was operating "at an all-time high" on the day of the incident. He also accused Ukraine of "touching up" intercepted phone calls of rebel commanders with audio from before the date of the crash. 
 
 Kiev has dismissed Russian claims that it could have been involved, and Ukraine's security service has posted intercepted phone calls that it says are of pro-Russia rebel commanders discussing having shot down a plane they discovered afterward was a civilian aircraft. Moscow and the rebels have denied this. 
 
 International forensic experts on Monday inspect the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines jet that was shot down in eastern Ukraine last week. Associated Press 
 
 The U.S., which has largely backed Kiev's version of events, has said its intelligence analysts have evaluated a number of the audio recordings and said they were authentic. 
 
 Earlier on Monday, Gen. Makushev said that the two Russian radar stations near Russia's border with Ukraine observed the presence of the second aircraft over a period of four minutes on the day of Flight 17's crash. These stations couldn't identify the aircraft because it mostly likely wasn't equipped with the system of secondary identification of aircrafts, "which is characteristic of fighter jets," he said. 
 
 Gen. Makushev said that Russian radars could only spot the aircraft at the point of its ascension because the on-duty radars only detected objects at above 5,000 meters. Russian radars spotted the unidentified plane patrolling in the vicinity of Flight 17, "controlling the development of the situation," he said. 
 
 The defense ministry also said it registered the Su-25 fighter jet ascending within close range of several civil aircrafts, including the Malaysia Airlines jet. 
 
 Another top military official, Lt. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, said at the same news conference that the jet came as close as 1.8 miles to Flight 17, which is well within the range of the air-to-air missiles it is usually equipped with. 
 
 Interactives 
 
 Gen. Makushev also showed satellite photos allegedly showing several Buk-M1 ground-to-air missile systems in the area close to where the plane crashed. The systems, he argued, could only belong to the Ukrainian military. The Buks were spotted in Luhansk and Donetsk by Russians, Gen. Kartapolov said, in the days leading up to the crash. 
 
 Ukrainian officials have said its own Buk systems were well out of range, and have accused Russia of giving the rebels a Buk system, which then shot down the airliner. Russia denies this. 
 
 Public tracking website Flightradar24 followed Flight 17 from its departure from Amsterdam through to its final moments over Ukraine. The aircraft was observed to be roughly 10 miles north of the L980 jetway that was a part of its filed flight plan. Such a deviation isn't unusual, though, and can be affected by weather. 
 
 Similarly, Gen. Makushev said the Malaysia Airlines plane deviated from its course by close to 9 miles near Donetsk but then attempted to return to its course, crashing shortly after. Russian radars spotted the Flight 17 rapidly descending 32 miles away from the Russian border, Russian officials said. 
 
 He said Russia is prepared to hand all of the information it has to the European authorities, which included satellite imagery and data from its own radar. 
 
 Russian defense ministry officials also claimed that a U.S. satellite was spotted at the time of the Flight 17 crash and asked that the U.S. release the satellite images from that time. The U.S. didn't immediately comment on the claim. 
 
 —Joe Lauria 
 
 and Julian E. Barnes 
 
 and Jon Ostrower contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Olga Razumovskaya at olga.razumovskaya@wsj.com
– The investigation into what happened to Malaysia Airlines MH17 took big steps forward today, with victims' bodies finally arriving by train in a Ukraine town and Malaysia declaring that the black boxes are in "good condition." But Moscow, in the meantime, sought to cast doubt on the generally accepted theory that pro-Russian separatists were to blame, reports the Wall Street Journal. At an official briefing last night, the defense ministry said that its radar spotted a second aircraft in the vicinity and that it was probably a Ukraine fighter jet, which could have shot down the plane. The air force chief also suggested that a Ukraine missile system could have hit the plane from the ground, and he said satellite imagery suggested that Ukraine had been moving such systems into the area. He offered no proof, but as Katie Stallard at Sky News writes, "Russia doesn't need to prove its case—all it needs is to create one, to insist that there are different versions of events, that there is credible claim and counter-claim." Meanwhile, the refrigerated train carrying passengers arrived in the Ukraine town of Kharkiv, reports the AP. Forensic experts from the Netherlands, which is taking the lead in the investigation, were to prepare the bodies today for transport to Amsterdam, probably tomorrow. Meanwhile, Malaysia's prime minister declared the black boxes to be in "good condition," reports MarketWatch. Malaysia will hold them until they are turned over to international investigators.