Obama Blames Russia for the Downing of the Plane

While the world is still shocked by the tragedy, U.S. President Barack Obama attacked Russia and blamed the separatists in eastern Ukraine for the missile attack that brought down the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777, which had 298 people on board. They’re receiving assistance from Moscow, he declared.

Using the information gathered by his intelligence services, the president assured that, “evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile from an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine.” He further said that, “we know that these separatists have received a steady flow of support from Russia,” which includes “arms and training,” “heavy weapons” and anti-aircraft weapons.”

The tragedy, he said, was a “wake-up call” for Europe regarding their reluctance to impose stricter sanctions on Moscow for its actions in Ukraine.

Despite arguing that the rebels would not be able to shoot down a plane flying 30,000 feet in the air without Russian weapons and training, Obama asked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to use his influence on the separatists so they would abide by the ceasefire. “We want Russia to take the path that would result in peace in Ukraine, but so far, at least, Russia has failed to take that path,” he said. Nevertheless, Putin called for the ceasefire yesterday and gave his support to the Ukrainian government to construct “a lasting peace.”

The American president pointed out that the victims of the plane had no relation to the conflict and that “their deaths are an outrage of unspeakable proportions.”

“No one can deny the truth that is revealed in the awful images that we all have seen, and the eyes of the world are on eastern Ukraine, and we are going to make sure that the truth is out,” he said.

Moments before Obama’s speech, during a meeting of the UN Security Council, the American ambassador, Samantha Power, also blamed the rebels. The diplomat pointed out that, on Thursday morning, “separatists were spotted” having in their possession that same kind of anti-aircraft defense system near the place where the Malaysian plane fell. “Because of the technical complexity of the SA-11, it is unlikely that the separatists could effectively operate the system without assistance from knowledgeable personnel,” she argued. She closed with: “We cannot rule out technical assistance from Russian personnel in operating the systems.”

The sinister plane, that on Thursday left Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur, flew over the east of Ukraine, where the pro-Russian separatists and the Army of Kiev have been fighting for over three months. Multiple military aircrafts have been shot down in the area.

Traveling on the Boeing 777 were 189 Dutchmen, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 9 British, 4 Germans, 4 Belgians, 3 Filipinos, a Canadian, an American and a New Zealander. The nationalities of some victims have yet to be confirmed.

According to experts, the plane was shot down by a Buk missile, made in Russia. Only Russia and Ukraine have these launchers.

However, the Russian Ministry of Defense vehemently refused having provided the separatists with those weapons.

The Russian state media and the rebels themselves reported that the separatists had seized said launchers after taking a base of the Ukrainian Army. But the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense countered that by saying that the projectiles had been removed from the base before that. The rebels now too deny having such arms. “We didn’t seize any Buk missile system,” said yesterday separatist Andrei Purgin, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

Yesterday, an investigative mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) arrived at the site of the tragedy to inspect it. However, the separatists obstructed their work. “They didn’t have the freedom of movement they needed,” denounced Thomas Greminger, Swiss ambassador and temporary president of the OSCE. He explained that the observers will make another attempt at entering the area. Interpol announced the transportation of experts to help in the identification of the victims and Washington promised to send FBI investigators and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).