Putin Says Ukraine Caused Plane Crash
HAVANA TIMES — Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Thursday that the Ukraine is to be held accountable for the crash of the Malaysia Airlines plane that resulted in the death of its 295 passengers and crew, DPA reported.
“Without a doubt, the State in which this incident took place is responsible for the terrible tragedy,” the Russian leader said during a meeting with government officials in Moscow.
Putin underscored that the incident would not have taken place had war not been raging in eastern Ukraine.
“This tragedy would not have occurred if there were peace in this territory, if combat actions had not been resumed in southeastern Ukraine,” he stressed, adding that he has repeatedly urged Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to maintain the ceasefire.
Putin demanded that the facts of the crime be cleared up so that Russian and Ukrainian public opinion – as well as the international community – can know what happened.
Putin called the meeting of government officials at his residence in Moscow. Following a minute of silence, he opened the meeting in a quivering voice.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov had previously described any association with the plane crash to Russia as “stupid.” The Moscow Minister of Defense also denied any involvement of his forces in the crash of the Boeing 777-200 and emphasized that the Russian air forces currently operating in the Ukraine border had nothing to do with the incident.
The Ukraine accuses Russia of supporting separatists in the country and the Kiev government blames the insurgents for allegedly downing of the plane, bound to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.
Colleen. There is no question that Russia supplied the Chechen forces in Ukraine with their Buk surface to air missiles – they are of Russian manufacture. Trying to deny that is like trying to deny Russia supplying Bashar Asad with weapons including aircraft. The supporters of Putin however are maintaining that he has no influence or control of the Russian mercenaries and that the weapons used to shoot down MH17 were operated by the elected Ukrainian government in Kiev. Russia has a history of denial, denial, denial. For fifty years Moscow denied murdering 15,000 Poles at Katyn. In practice socialism is about control and dictatorship. Yes, it has its supporters but oddly they seldom live in socialist countries themselves, preferring to live in capitalist societies where they have the liberty to openly express their views.
To Kai Fan. Are you seriously trying to suggest that President Barack Obama was in any way responsible for the disappearance of MH370? If so, apart from your ridiculous opinion there is nothing to support such a statement which is defamatory.
Are you making a moral equivalence between Putin’s ruthless act of international terrorism which resulted in 295 innocent civilians being murdered and Obama’s somewhat muted initial response to the incident?
If so, you have no moral compass nor any sense of proportion.
He got that from RT, or Russia One, or any number of Kremlin controlled media outlets. They’ve been floating several crazy theories, including thus one, to try and muddy the water. Unfortunately for the Russians this tragedy occurred in one of the most highly monitored areas in the world.
You missed out the Korean passenger jet shot down by fighter jets from the USSR in 1984!
The guilt is obvious, but the last thing being considered by the pro-Putin pack is that 298 people have been murdered and are lost to the world. Humanity and concern for it was never a consideration by the Russian bear.
Just 4 days prior, a Ukrainian An-26 military transport was shot down flying at 22,000 feet, way above the range of MANPADs. Now this. There is every indication that Putin’s dogs pulled the trigger.
As for Obama, he’s no better. There were more Americans aboard MH370 that mysteriously disappeared just 4 months ago than on MH17 (just 1 person), so the reaction he’s showing now is grossly disproportionate.
You are of course being sarcastic…right? Otherwise your statement is a bit nonsensical
The Ukranians were trying to shoot Putin’s plane out of the sky, as it was returning from his visit to Latin America. Once again, it looks like they made a mistake! This can be expected, though, as they are prone to make such “mistakes” (e.g. their masters shot down an Iranian commercial airliner carrying pilgrims to Mecca over the Iranian Gulf in the 1990’s, and the U.S. facilitated the bombing of a Cubana commercial airliner in 1974. Par for the course!
Interesting transcript of some additional hearsay. This was carried on the International Business Times.
A second intercepted phone conversation was allegedly between militants identified as “Major” and “Greek” who talked upon inspection of the crash site.
A third intercepted phone conversation heard Cossack commander Nikolay Kozitsin talking to an unidentified militant. Kozitsin said the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 had no business to fly in that area, unless the airliner was carrying spies.
The full transcript of the intercepted phone call below:
Igor Bezler: We have just shot down a plane. Group Minera. It fell down beyond Yenakievo (Donetsk Oblast).
Vasili Geranin: Pilots. Where are the pilots?
IB: Gone to search for and photograph the plane. Its smoking.
VG: How many minutes ago?
IB: About 30 minutes ago.
After 40 minutes, the terrorists again talked and concluded that they have shot down a civilian plane, according to SBU comments.
“Major”: These are Chernukhin folks who shot down the plane. From the Chernukhin check point. Those cossacks who are based in Chernukhino.
“Grek”: Yes, Major.
“Major”: The plane fell apart in the air. In the area of Petropavlovskaya mine. The first “200” (code word for dead person). We have found the first “200”. A Civilian.
“Greek”: Well, what do you have there?
“Major”: In short, it was 100 per cent a passenger (civilian) aircraft.
“Greek”: Are many people there?
“Major”: Holy sh__t! The debris fell right into the yards (of homes).
“Greek”: What kind of aircraft?
“Major”: I haven’t ascertained this. I haven’t been to the main sight. I am only surveying the scene where the first bodies fell. There are the remains of internal brackets, seats and bodies.
“Greek”: Is there anything left of the weapon?
“Major”: Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper.
“Greek”: Are there documents?
“Major”: Yes, of one Indonesian student. From a university in Thompson.
Militant: Regarding the plane shot down in the area of Snizhne-Torez. It’s a civilian one. Fell down near Grabove. There are lots of corpses of women and children. The Cossacks are out there looking at all this.
They say on TV it’s AN-26 transport plane, but they say it’s written Malaysia Airlines on the plane. What was it doing on Ukraine’s territory?
Nikolay Kozitsin: That means they were carrying spies. They shouldn’t be f…cking flying. There is a war going on.
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Heresy? Was that a freudian slip, implying accusations of Russian involvement is heretical to your ideological faith?
The direct support of the Russian separatist rebels is open knowledge. A few days ago a Ukrainina airforce transport plane was shot down with a missile launched from Russian territory, not from separatist areas of Ukraine.
In this particular case, the Buk missile system is a complex system which requires weeks of training to use effectively. The people who used the Buk missile system to shoot down the aircraft had to have been trained to operate the weapon by people who are capable of providing the training. That means the Russians.
As President Obama stated in a press conference minutes ago, these rebels could not operate as they have been doing without military support & training from Russia.
Putin’s public pronouncements are intended for domestic consumption. He appears to care very little about his international reputation. The gaps between the truth and his public statements are appalling but have little effect on the propagandized information the Russian people receive.
Recorded phone conversations between Ukrainian terrorists and Russian intelligence as well as video of these terrorists boasting about their capture of the Buk anti-aircraft missile system are extremely damning evidence. What more do you need short of a full confession?
That is heresy, you have absolutely no evidence that Russia provided air missiles to rebels.
“Without a doubt, the State in which this incident took place is responsible…” says Putin.
Of course that fact that Russia provided highly advanced surface to air missiles to the rebels, who obviously lack an adequate command and control structure, played no role. ….How convenient.