MOSCOW, July 2./ITAR-TASS/. The Kiev authorities are hindering an independent international investigation of a recent Boeing air crash in embattled eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, and some Western countries are trying to shield them, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry said the Russian delegation in the United Nations Security Council drew partners’ attention to the “evident fact of Kiev violating the Council’s requirements” and proposed making a statement for the press citing the Council’s Resolution 2166, in particular, clause 7.

Clause 7 demands that “all military activities, including by armed groups, be immediately ceased in the immediate area surrounding the crash site to allow for security and safety of the international investigation.”

“Unfortunately, our initiative was brazenly blocked by representatives of the United States, Britain and Lithuania,” the ministry said.

“We see a regular attempt to shield the Kiev authorities, hindering the holding of a truly independent, unbiased international probe into the circumstances of the tragedy,” it said.