US Intelligence has confirmed a Malaysian Airways plane carrying 295 passengershas been shot down over the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Meanwhile Mashable has this from a Separatist leader:
KIEV, Ukraine — As news broke of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 being downed in eastern Ukraine, the separatist’s shadowy commander with a pencil mustache issued a dark warning on social media.
Through his VK.com account, Russia’s version of Facebook, the self-proclaimed defense minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Igor Girkin — who goes by the nom de guerre Igor Strelkov — boasted about shooting down a plane.
"We did warn you — do not fly in our sky," he wrote.
Thinking it was a Ukrainian transport plane, Strelkov added that “a plane has just been downed somewhere around Torez, it lays there behind the 'Progress' mine,” referring to the mining town of some 80,000 people.
“And here is the video proving another 'bird' falling down,” he continued. “The bird went down behind a slagheap, not in a residential district. So no peaceful people were injured,” Strelkov wrote, adding that there is also information about a Ukrainian military plane shot down.
However, Strelkov deleted the post when he found out it was actually a commercial jetliner carrying 295 innocent people — not a military aircraft.
It's too early to be sure of the facts at the moment. But I will say this. Having watched Putin pursue the same agenda as he did in Georgia, and the long term consequences of post communist ethnic nationalism in the Former Yugoslavia - Vladimir Putin may have made his biggest miscalculation of his career.
1:34 PM PT: Strelkov 's facebook page boasted of downing plane in same region, 15 mins after the Malaysian Aircraft crashed https://www.facebook.com/...
1:57 PM PT:
2:02 PM PT: Lawrence may be able to update his diary here better than I given the time difference - please do head over
http://www.dailykos.com/...
2:13 PM PT: Ukrainian authorities allowed planes only to cross the Donetsk area above 30,000 ft. The plane was flying at 33,000 ft. Only BUK systems can reach that height. A trained operator would know it was a civilian plane.
2:33 PM PT: Interpreter has analysed a YouTube uploaded by Ukrainian secret services purporting to be a conversation between separatist commanders: http://pressimus.com/...
2:38 PM PT:
2:55 PM PT: Tim Snyder on BBC newsnight - what was a Russian fantasy about Ukraine has become an international catastrophe.
3:07 PM PT:
3:33 PM PT: Important link from Just Bob http://www.nytimes.com/...
At the news conference, Mr. Strelkov appeared resolute, despite the Ukrainian military’s new momentum and the apparent change of strategy in the Kremlin. He revealed that he had indeed served in the Russian F.S.B., the successor to the K.G.B., up until March 31, 2013, but that he had left the service. Western governments say that he is controlled by Russia’s military intelligence service, the G.R.U.
Fri Jul 18, 2014 at 6:45 AM PT: UNVERIFIED: but Ukraine now claiming irrefutable proof BUK -M was provided by Russian Federation with a team
http://www.kyivpost.com/...
This video purports (and will need massive cross checking) to show the BUK M heading back towards the border
https://www.youtube.com/...