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Australian and Dutch experts examine the area of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plane crash on Sunday, August 3, near the village of Rossipne, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. The United States says a surface-to-air missile took down the Boeing 777 on Thursday, July 17, as it was flying over Ukraine from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, killing all 298 people aboard. Ukrainian officials have accused pro-Russian rebels of downing the jet, but Russia blames Ukraine's recent military operations against the rebels.
A convoy of international forensic experts and members of the mission for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe travel across a damaged bridge near Debaltsevo village on August 3 after leaing the area of the crash.
Police secure a refrigerated train loaded with bodies of passengers from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 as it arrives in a Kharkiv, Ukraine, factory on Tuesday, July 22.
A pro-Russia rebel passes wreckage from the crashed jet near the eastern Ukraine village of Hrabove on Monday, July 21.
Wreckage from the jet lies in grass near Hrabove on July 21.
A man covers his face with a rag as members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Dutch National Forensic Investigations Team inspect bodies in a refrigerated train near the crash site in eastern Ukraine on July 21. The remains of 16 people are still missing, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
Emergency workers carry a victim's body in a bag at the crash site on July 21. Search teams have recovered more than 270 bodies, officials say.
A piece of the Boeing 777 lies in the grass in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region on July 21.
An armed pro-Russia rebel stands guard next to a refrigerated train loaded with bodies in Torez, Ukraine, on Sunday, July 20.
Ukrainian State Emergency Service employees sort through debris on July 20 as they work to locate the deceased.
A woman covers her mouth with a piece of fabric July 20 to ward off smells from railway cars that reportedly contain passengers' bodies.
Toys and flowers sit on the charred fuselage of the jet as a memorial on July 20.
People search a wheat field for remains in the area of the crash site on July 20.
A woman walks among charred debris at the crash site on Sunday, July 20.
Emergency workers load the body of a victim onto a truck at the crash site on Saturday, July 19.
Emergency workers carry the body of a victim at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, July 19.
A large piece of the main cabin is under guard at the crash site on July 19.
Victims' bodies are placed by the side of the road on July 19 as recovery efforts continue at the crash site. International officials lament the lack of a secured perimeter.
A man looks through the debris at the crash site on July 19.
An envelope bearing the Malaysia Airlines logo at the crash site on July 19.
Armed rebels walk past large pieces of the Boeing 777 on July 19.
Ukrainian rescue workers walk through a wheat field with a stretcher as they collect the bodies of victims on July 19.
A woman looks at wreckage at the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash site on July 19.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine on Friday, July 18. " border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0024" width="640"/>Pro-Russian fighters stand guard as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe delegation arrives at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine on Friday, July 18.
A woman walks through the debris field on July 18.
Pro-Russia rebels stand guard at the crash site.
Wreckage from Flight 17 lies in a field in Shaktarsk, Urkaine on July 18. International inspectors are headed to the crash site to search for the plane's flight data recorders.
A man covers a body with a plastic sheet near the crash site July 18. The passengers and crew hailed from all over the world, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Germany and Canada.
A diver searches for the jet's flight data recorders on July 18.
Coal miners search the crash site.
Wreckage from the Boeing 777 lies on the ground July 18 in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
People search for bodies of passengers on July 18.
A woman walks past a body covered with a plastic sheet near the crash site July 18. The diversity of the victims' nationalities has turned the crash into a global tragedy.
Belongings of passengers lie in the grass on July 18.
People inspect the crash site on Thursday, July 17.
People walk amid the debris at the site of the crash.
Debris smoulders in a field near the Russian border.
Fire engines arrive at the crash site.
A man stands next to wreckage.
Debris from the crashed jet lies in a field in Ukraine.
Family members of those aboard Flight 17 leave Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam, Netherlands.
A large piece of the plane lies on the ground.
Luggage from the flight sits in a field at the crash site.
A couple walks to the location at Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam where more information will be given regarding the flight.
Flight arrivals are listed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia.
Debris from the Boeing 777, pictured on July 17.
A man inspects debris from the plane.
Wreckage from the plane is seen on July 17.
A man talks with security at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on July 17.
Wreckage burns in Ukraine.
A man stands next to the wreckage of the airliner that crashed July 17 in Ukraine.
Twitter." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0052" width="640"/>People inspect a piece of wreckage believed to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine. This image was posted to Twitter.
People inspect a piece of wreckage believed to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. This image was posted to Twitter.
Twitter." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0054" width="640"/>A piece of wreckage believed to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. This image was posted to Twitter.
Twitter." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0055" width="640"/>A piece of wreckage believed to be from MH17. This image was posted to Twitter.
Twitter." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0056" width="640"/>An airsickness bag believed to be from MH17. This image was posted to Twitter.
Twitter." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0057" width="640"/>A piece of wreckage believed to be from MH17. This image was posted to Twitter.
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- NEW: A U.S. military team in Kiev is aiding the recovery effort of downed Flight MH17
- NATO official says there are about 20,000 Russian troops near the Ukraine border
- Some 730,000 Ukrainians have fled to Russia, a U.N. agency says
- Russia is conducting military exercises in its southwest region
Donetsk, Ukraine (CNN) -- A new buildup of Russian troops along the Ukraine border raised concerns Tuesday that Moscow might be contemplating another intervention like the one that annexed Crimea earlier this year.
According to a NATO official, Russia now has about 20,000 troops stationed "in an area along the entire border with eastern Ukraine." The buildup nearly doubled the troop deployment in the last week by adding 8,000 more forces to 12,000 already there, the official said.
It comes a week after the United States and the European Union increased economic sanctions on Russia for supporting pro-Russian separatists fighting Ukraine government forces in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, along the border with Russia.
In addition, Russia's Defense Ministry is staging a week of military exercises involving air troops and anti-missile defense forces. The exercises are taking place in Russia's southern Astrakhan region, roughly 500 miles from the border with Ukraine.
Similar military exercises in the region preceded Russia's annexation of Crimea in March, which escalated the Ukraine conflict following the ouster of pro-Moscow Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych a month earlier.
Donetsk braces for offensive
Meanwhile, Ukraine government security officials said Monday they were preparing for a "massive assault" on Donetsk city, state media reported. Inside the city, a rebel stronghold for months, shelling has already pushed some residents underground into cellars and half-built basements.
Russia's Foreign Ministry claimed in a statement Monday that the Ukrainian military was firing missiles and using multiple rocket systems in and around the city.
It accused Ukraine's government of wanting to continue the war and called for talks to find a political situation to the crisis.
With escalated fighting and Ukrainian forces making gains, the Russian deployment at the border could portend an intervention under the banner of a peacekeeping operation.
Russian troop buildup
The NATO official said Russian forces gathering at the Ukraine border included a "spectrum" of assets -- infantry, mechanized divisions, armor, a lot of artillery, both conventional and air defense, and special forces and logistics.
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"They are very capable Russian regular units and can move in a matter of hours and could significantly disrupt the situation" in eastern Ukraine, the official said.
The Ukrainian government and Western leaders accuse Russia of fomenting instability in its neighbor by arming and supporting the rebels there, which Russia denies.
The downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17 exacerbated the situation.
Malaysian plane downed
U.S. and Ukrainian officials allege that a Russian-made missile shot down the plane from rebel-held territory, killing all 298 people on board. Russia and the rebel fighters deny involvement.
Earlier this year, Russia amassed about 40,000 troops on the Ukraine border and threatened to invade, NATO said in a fact sheet published last month.
Putin then ordered most of the soldiers to return to their bases, leaving about 12,000 of July 11, NATO said.
On Tuesday, Ukraine's National Defense and Security Council said the Russian deployment now numbered as high as 45,000, and that there had been 26 clashes in the past 24 hours, including six attacks from Russian territory.
Meanwhile, Russian combat aircraft crew will practice firing at air and ground targets in unfamiliar territory, the defense ministry said of the military exercises in the region. The maneuvers will involve 100 aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers and combat helicopters.
In its fact sheet, NATO challenged Russian accusations that the alliance is escalating the crisis in Ukraine by bolstering its support for NATO members in Eastern Europe.
"Over the past months, Russia has also embarked on an unprecedented schedule of no-notice military exercises involving massive numbers of troops and heavy equipment," NATO said, adding: "Russia should explain what its military plans are before it starts accusing others of posing a threat."
Search for remains
An official with knowledge of the MH17 investigation told CNN that a significant part of the crash site was between Ukrainian and separatist front lines, which constantly change.
A 17-vehicle convoy of 110 experts accompanied by nine international monitors made it to the site on Tuesday, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said via Twitter.
The experts, from the Netherlands, Australia and Malaysia, were hampered in their search efforts Monday by renewed fighting in the area.
Monday's search focused in and around the village of Petropavlivka, in the western part of the huge debris field, but the team was unable to complete its mission after an initial delay.
They did recover some personal belongings of those on the flight, including photo albums and passports, said Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, head of the Dutch recovery mission.
In addition, a team of about a dozen U.S. military specialists arrived Tuesday in Kiev to assist the recovery effort, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters.
He said the State Department requested the team to "assess, advise, and provide recommendations to the U.S. Embassy" about possible U.S. support for the recovery operation.
"They are military; they will not leave Kiev," Kirby said, adding that the team includes experts in communications, logistics and other areas that can aid the investigation.
"Recovery operations is something, tragically and unfortunately, the U.S. military has to do and has to be good at," Kirby said.
Train wagons
A train carrying MH17 victims' belongings recovered from the crash site in the days immediately following the July tragedy arrived in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, the OSCE told CNN. It will continue to the Netherlands once it has customs clearance.
While refrigerated train wagons holding body bags were sent to Kharkiv much earlier, the investigating team was only granted access to this train wagon over the weekend, according to the OSCE.
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The wagon does not appear to have been tampered with while held in the town of Torez, near the crash site, Aalbersberg said. "The seal on the wagon was still intact and the suitcases, bags and cameras inside seemed untouched."
Refugees flee conflict
The ongoing fighting has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes and seek shelter either elsewhere in Ukraine or across the border in Russia.
The U.N. refugee agency, the UNHCR, said Tuesday that the Russian authorities estimate that around 730,000 Ukrainians have sought sanctuary in Russia this year under a visa-free travel program. This includes more than 168,000 who have reported to Russia's Federal Migration Service.
Russia's state-run news agency Itar-Tass reported Tuesday that Russia has set up 585 temporary camps to house the fleeing Ukrainians. More than 42,400 people are staying there, including about 15,000 children, it said.
UNHCR's European director Vincent Cochetel told journalists in Geneva that about 80% of the Ukrainians who have fled to Russia are staying in border areas, while others are with friends or family in other parts of the country.
Many people in eastern Ukraine are Russian-speaking and have strong ties to Russia.
At the same time, nearly 118,000 people are reported to be internally displaced, most of them from eastern Ukraine, based on information given to the UNHCR by Ukrainian authorities and local NGOs.
"In the past seven days more than 6,200 people have been forced from their homes," Cochetel said.
Many have fled with limited possessions, some driven out by the destruction of homes and infrastructure, while others say they fear being caught in the crossfire or suffering persecution.
The UNHCR has seen a significant increase in people fleeing violence around Horlivka, Donetsk and Luhansk, where conflict has intensified in recent days, Cochetel said.
At the same time, there has been a "substantial number of returns" to areas where the Ukrainian government has regained control, such as Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, he said, citing local authorities.
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CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported from Donetsk, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported in London and Tom Cohen wrote in Washington. CNN's Kellie Morgan, Alexander Felton and Alla Eshchenko contributed to this report.
