Investigators resume searching wreckage of Malaysian jet

KIEV, Ukraine -- Investigators began searching the wreckage of Malaysian Air Flight MH17 after two weeks of delays, finding body parts and personal belongings of the victims as the pro-Russian revolt in eastern Ukraine raged on around them.

Dozens of forensics experts, mainly Dutch and Australian, followed scouts along a four-hour journey from the regional capital Donetsk to the chicken farm near the village of Grabovo where the bulk of the fuselage came down on July 17, according to Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, head of the recovery mission.

"A number of human remains were found," Aalbersberg said in an emailed statement. Those will be put in refrigerated rail cars and sent to the evacuation center in Kharkiv, from where they'll be flown to Amsterdam, where the flight originated.

Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin spoke by phone about the deepening crisis , during which Obama "reiterated his deep concerns about Russia's increased support for the separatists," the White House said in a statement.

Putin said the sanctions imposed against Russia as a result of the crisis in Ukraine have done "serious damage" to international relations, according to the Kremlin. Both sides stressed the importance of establishing an "immediate, sustainable cease-fire" to begin peace talks, the Kremlin said.

The leaders spoke after an assault by 150 rebels backed by three tanks near the city of Shakhtarsk left 10 government troops dead and 13 wounded, according to Ukrainian officials.