I don't know, something seems fishy here. The official is claiming that separatists shot down the plane from 30,000 feet? Do the separatists own the technology to do that? What do they have to gain from shooting down a passenger plane?
> The official is claiming that separatists shot down the plane from 30,000 feet? Do the separatists own the technology to do that?
Well, "own" is a legal question, but they are reported to at least posess such equipment -- specifically, they claim to have captured Buk missiles [0], which could easily engage at this range.
> What do they have to gain from shooting down a passenger plane?
Making civilian traffic air traffic through (and thus, both to and from) Ukraine unsafe would increase economic pressure on the regime to reach a satisfactory accommodation with the separatists. Alternatively, the separatists could have mistaken the flight for a military one, and they have shot down military flights recently (also at altitudes that MANPAD systems wouldn't reach) [1].
Of course, "separatists" aren't the only people who may be shooting down planes in Ukrainian territory these days. [2]
[0] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/malaysia-airlin... "But the Donetsk People's Republic said in June its forces had captured Buk missiles from a Ukrainian military base, Itar-Tass news agency reported. The Buk missile has a range of 18,000 metres, according to some accounts."
dragonwriter|11 years ago
Well, "own" is a legal question, but they are reported to at least posess such equipment -- specifically, they claim to have captured Buk missiles [0], which could easily engage at this range.
> What do they have to gain from shooting down a passenger plane?
Making civilian traffic air traffic through (and thus, both to and from) Ukraine unsafe would increase economic pressure on the regime to reach a satisfactory accommodation with the separatists. Alternatively, the separatists could have mistaken the flight for a military one, and they have shot down military flights recently (also at altitudes that MANPAD systems wouldn't reach) [1].
Of course, "separatists" aren't the only people who may be shooting down planes in Ukrainian territory these days. [2]
[0] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/malaysia-airlin... "But the Donetsk People's Republic said in June its forces had captured Buk missiles from a Ukrainian military base, Itar-Tass news agency reported. The Buk missile has a range of 18,000 metres, according to some accounts."
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/europe/ukrainian-mil...
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/world/europe/ukraine-says-...