Eleven Australian Federal Police officers were forced to abandon a planned site visit over the weekend due to heavy shelling in eastern Ukraine.
The unarmed officers remain in Donetsk, alongside Dutch representatives.
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner of National Security Andrew Colvin confirmed officers would attempt to access the site again today.
Speaking in Canberra, Assistant Commissioner Colvin said the fighting in the region was intensifying.
“The risks are obvious and they are many,” he said.
"We’ve said all along that this is a risky mission. But we are working on the basis that if it’s a permission environment we’ll go in. If it’s a permissive environment, those risks will be reduced. We’re talking about a conflict zone.”
Assistant Commissioner Colvin described the region as “highly volatile”, adding that ground crews were in direct contact with separatist rebels.
Given the obstructions to site access, he said authorities had to consider the possibility that not all the remains may be identified in time.
"We have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that not all remains will ultimately be recovered."
“We have to consider that, as we had from day one,” he said.
“Given the spread of the crime scene, given the nature of this disaster, the trauma on the victims and now these added complications… We have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that not all remains will ultimately be recovered.”
Despite the increasing violence, he confirmed officers would remain unarmed.
“The fact that we’re not taking firearms makes our legal status far simpler and I think that’s a sensible decision,” he said.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop ruled out providing arms to the officers on the ground.
Speaking during her second visit to Kiev, Ms Bishop said there had always been a risk that violence from military and rebel actions would make the site inaccessible.
“We’re aware that this plane was shot down over a warzone and news that the fighting has intensified is perhaps inevitable,” she said.
“We are planning for those risks, we will mitigate those risks and we’ll make sure that our police investigators are safe when they go in. We won’t take steps that will put them in danger.”
She also confirmed that the 170 officers on the ground throughout the Ukraine would remain unarmed.
“This is a humanitarian mission,” she said.
Ms Bishop was in the Ukrainian capital with her Dutch counterpart, looking to ratify an agreement which would allow Australian police and soldiers to take a lead role in securing the site.
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