Senior U.S. Intelligence Officials: Russia Was Not Directly Involved, and The Most Likely Explanation Was the Plane Was Shot Down By MISTAKE

Despite the War Drums, There Is No Evidence that Putin Shot Down the Malaysian Airplane Over Ukraine

We’ve previously documented civilian planes have accidentally been shot down by Ukraine, Russia, the U.S., Israel and China, and that the Malaysian plane may have accidentally been shot down over Russia.

The Associated Press confirms this possibility:

Senior U.S. intelligence officials say they have no evidence of direct Russian government involvement in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

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A senior official said the most likely explanation was the plane was shot down by mistake.

Indeed, the Russian government claims Ukrainian fighter jets were flying very close to Malaysian Flight 17.  While some believe this proves that the Ukrainians shot down the passenger plane, another theory has surfaced:  that Ukrainian fighter jets were escorting the Malaysian plane through Ukrainian airspace.   If so, whoever shot the plane down might have thought it was a military craft.

In any event – despite the war hawks’ rush to judgment and false leads – no one really knows what happened yet.