Updated 17.53

British air accident investigators are to examine the data from the black boxes of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) - part of the British Department for Transport - would take the lead in analysing the crucial black box data.

He tweeted "We've agreed Dutch request for air accident investigators at Farnborough to retrieve data from #MH17 black boxes for international analysis".

Rebel leader Aleksander Borodai - prime minister of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic - earlier handed over the boxes in front of a packed room of journalists.

Malaysian Colonel Mohamed Sakri said they were "intact, although a bit damaged".

The handover comes as EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, agreed to impose sanctions on more Russian officials in the wake of the crash. Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said a "forceful decision" had been agreed that would impose further visa bans and asset freezes.

He did not specify names or say how many Russian officials were on the list. Moscow is accused of backing the pro-Russian rebels who are suspected of shooting down MH17.

EU ministers said "further significant restrictive measures" would be taken against Russia's defence, energy and financial sectors if it did comply with a list of demands.

It called on Russia to use its influence over the armed separatists to secure "full, immediate, safe and secure" access to the crash site, and to stop the flow of weapons and equipment to the rebels.

Russian President Putin earlier warned Western powers not to use the incident to advance "vested interests" at the expense of Moscow. US officials say Russia risks being pushed into recession by the sanctions, citing data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Malaysian investigators are now on the scene, which is still strewn with wreckage and possessions. Many of the victims of flight MH17 have now arrived in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, where the bodies will be handed over to Dutch officials.

Refrigerated train wagons made the 300 kilometre journey from Torez overnight, after armed separatists who had been guarding the carriages allowed them to leave.

Inside were up to 280 bodies, which will now be flown to the Netherlands where two-thirds of the 298 victims came from. The bodies are expected to arrive in the country on Wednesday.

Earlier on his way into the talks, the Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said the priority was to get the bodies of passengers back to their families.

Meanwhile a ceasefire within a 10 kilometre radius of the crash site is to be put in place so international investigators can examine the wreckage of the Boeing 777 that was shot down near Grabovo last week.

It comes after fighting between separatists and pro-Ukrainian groups flared in Donetsk, some 60 kilometres from the crash site.

Health officials said four people were killed in Monday's clashes, while rebel military commander Igor Strelkov said up to 12 of his men died in the fighting.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are investigating the crash and say major pieces of wreckage look different to when they first arrived.

They say wreckage has been cut into with a power saw.

Michael Bociurkiw is at the main crash site. He told Newstalk Lunchtime earlier he has serious concerns over actions being taken on the wreckage.

Moscow has called for the investigation into the shooting down of the plane to be led by the "international community" and not Ukraine, after yet more accusations were traded between Russia and Ukraine over who is to blame.

Lyudmila Vorobyeva, the Russian ambassador to Ukraine, told a news conference the probe should be led by the United Nation's International Civil Aviation Organisation.

"The reason for that is the rebels, as we understand, do not trust the government of Kiev" said Ms Vorobyeva.

"That's why they were reluctant to hand over anything (including) the black boxes to the Ukrainian side because they are afraid the evidence would be tampered with".

She added that audio recordings of rebels admitting shooting down the plane are "fake" and a "compilation of different conversations".

While the EU Foreign Policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said earlier Russia has a vital role to play in the investigation.