Mystery Solved
Well, mystery solved. According to Russian state television a satellite photograph has been released demonstrating unequivocally that a Ukrainian fighter jet shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, so now the world can know of a certainty the cause of the MH17 disaster in which 298 people on the Boeing 777 in flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur died. Though Ukraine has held Russia responsible for inciting ethnic Russian rebels and providing them with the means to shoot down high-flying planes, Moscow offers proof that Ukraine was responsible. |
| Image made from amateur video taken on July 17, 2014 shows the burning wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove, Ukraine.(Photo: AP) |
Released by Russia's Channel One and Rossiya TV stations, a Ukrainian fighter jet is shown firing an air-to-air missile at the plane. The photo was obtained from a Moscow-based organization, which itself had taken possession of the incriminating piece of data via email from someone who had identified himself an aviation expert. Turns out the 'aviation expert' was in reality a somewhat amateur photo forger.
Those who are expert in analyzing such forgeries have estimated the photo to date back to 2012. There exist some giveaway details that are not consonant with what the photo purports to demonstrate, unfortunately for the triumphant revelation of Russian propaganda. Mark Solonin, Russian author and trained engineer identifies the aircraft as disproportionate to the landscape they are shown in.
His expert opinion is that the images had been edited and rather crudely, into a satellite photo. Others commenting on the legitimacy and accuracy of the photograph point out that the commercial airliner in the photograph has the appearance of a different type, not a Boeing 777 at all, but a Boeing 767. Which shouldn't at all dissuade the Russians to whom the propaganda has been directed, as to its winning credibility.
There have been other revelations, video taken close to the burning passenger jet from the village where parts of the destroyed plane ended up as they fell out of the sky, too close for comfort to nearby homes. From past events, villagers naturally assumed that what had been shot down and was raining down on them was a Ukrainian military plane, struck by rebels. The footage was shot by a resident of Hrabov.
People of the village were alarmed that they were bombarded with burning wreckage mere metres from their homes on July 17. Residents are heard on the video asking where the pilot of the plane might be, accustomed to previous such shoot-downs with the pilots and crew taken into custody by the rebels. On this occasion there was no one to be taken into custody, only multitudes of dead bodies, and body parts, many unrecognizable.
It soon appeared to the incredulous onlookers that surely more than one plane had come down to account for all the debris. But no. All was soon enough revealed, the scope of the tragedy made world news. The separatists have denied any involvement in the death-heavy tragedy. This, despite credible audio recordings reflecting agitated discussions by cellphone contact between a rebel commander and his Russian military contact.
Finally, however, under supervision of Dutch investigators and officials from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, fragments of the downed airliner are being recovered. They will be taken by train to the government controlled city of Kharkiv where the investigation is being conducted, as well as in the Netherlands. To determine, needless to say, whether a more accurate diagnosis of cause-and-effect can be discovered.
Recovery workers in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine load debris from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, in Hrabove, Ukraine, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014, four months after the plane was brought down. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov
Labels: Civil War, Russia, Tragedy, Ukraine
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, November 18, 2014
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