It may or may not be possible to come up with tight conclusive proof of who actually fired the missile that hit MH17. However, the crucial political decisions that are being made about Russia will be strongly impacted by the court of public opinion. Today there is some new information added to the chain of evidence.
MH17: Ukraine separatist commander admits rebels had Buk missile system Alexander Khodakovsky makes first such admission by senior separatist figure following downing of Malaysia Airlines plane
A top rebel commander in eastern Ukraine has admitted the armed separatist movement had control of a Buk missile system, which Kiev and western countries say was used to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines plane last week.
Alexander Khodakovsky, who leads the Vostok battalion – one of the main rebel formations – said the rebels may have received the Buk from Russia, in the first such admission by a senior separatist.
"That Buk I know about. I heard about it. I think they sent it back. Because I found out about it at exactly the moment that I found out that this tragedy had taken place. They probably sent it back in order to remove proof of its presence," Khodakovsky told Reuters.
However, his admission about the Buk chimes with evidence on the ground. This week the Guardian also spoke to witnesses who said they saw a missile-launching system that looked like a Buk drive through Torez, near the crash site, last Thursday, a few hours before the plane was downed.
Khodakovsky said he did not know where the missile system had come from but it may have come from Russia. He added the separatists had seized several Buk systems from Ukrainian bases, but none of them were operational.
"I'm not going to say Russia gave these things or didn't give them. Russia could have offered this Buk under some entirely local initiative. I want a Buk, and if someone offered me one, I wouldn't turn it down. But I wouldn't use it against something that did not threaten me. I would use it only in circumstances when there was an air attack on my positions, to protect people's lives," he said.
Putin continues to try to avoid taking any responsibility for this incident. The real issue is the willingness of European nations to impose economic sanctions on Russia which are likely to cause them some economic pain in the process.