Some useful background in The Washington Post about the Buk missile systems:
But the Buk is much more sophisticated than a MANPADS. It is typically operated as a set of four vehicles: a command post vehicle, a target acquisition radar vehicle, the missile launch vehicle (which has its own targeting radar), and a support vehicle. Orchestrating this system requires more training than the relatively straightforward operation of MANPADS.
Such systems are also more difficult to acquire, as they are not widely distributed across military units. Instead they are normally concentrated it specialized air defense units. This combination of relative concentration and high sophistication makes it less likely that separatists could have captured a Buk in the past month and would then be able to successfully operate it.
Instead it seems more likely that the Buk was provided by Russia along with any necessary training. This is supported by U.S. and Ukrainianreports last month that Russia had provided tanks and other heavy equipment to the separatists. Notably both the tanks alleged to have been provided (T-64s) and the Buk are older Soviet-era equipment that Russia would not miss but would also be plausibly present in Ukrainian arsenals. This allows the Russians to retain a figleaf of plausible deniability about the equipment.
Ukrainian President Poroshenko has called the downing of the Malaysian airliner in the Donetsk region the result of an "act of international terrorism." In a televised English-language statement from Kyiv today, Poroshenko said the incident was a "wake-up call" for the whole world.
We ran a story last night about a social media site purporting to belong to separatist leader Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov, claiming that insurgents had shot down an aircraft.
There have been doubts raised about whether the site was just a separatist fan site or whether it was accurately carrying Strelkov's statements. At The Interpreter, Catherine A. Fitzpatrick unpacks some of the questions concerning the veracity of the site.
From our long observation of this Vkontakte group and other Strelkov-related pages, we would have to say this is not the case – this group’s publications have long been cited by regional media and the same talking points as the dispatch were also used by Russian state media and Ukrainian media from other separatist sources .
First, the VKontakte group isn’t just a random fan group; it’s an established group of supporters now numbering more than 137,000 followers which has been publishing “Strelkov Dispatches” for weeks, many of which have tracked events corroborated by other sources or which are consistent with the separatists’ narrative as Strelkov himself says on camera in video addresses or at news conferences uploaded to YouTube.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said European states should take the lead in an investigation of the Malaysia Airlines tragedy in eastern Ukraine. Clinton said in an interview with PBS's Charlie Rose on July 17 there was "growing awareness" that "Russian insurgents" were to blame for the downing of the jetliner and that the equipment used in the attack "had to have come from Russia."
Here are three videos documenting Australia's response to the MH17 tragedy.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said "Russian-backed rebels" were behind the shootdown:
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called for a full international inquiry into the flight MH17 tragedy. Bishop told journalists in Brisbane today that Australia is seeking access to the crash site and she urged pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine to cooperate with the investigation. She said the incident underscored the urgent need to deescalate the situation in eastern Ukraine.
Then an angry Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott demanded an independent inquiry in a televised statement, saying Russia's response to the disaster was "deeply unsatisfactory." Abbott criticized Russia's ambassador to Australia, Vladimir Morozov, who blamed Ukraine for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines, which was carrying at least 27 Australians.
On the question of whether or not separatists possessed any antiaircraft systems as advanced as the BUK. Here's an ITAR-TASS English-language story from June 29 in which "Donetsk People's Republic" sources boast of having acquired "a missile defence army unit equipped with Buk missile defence systems."
Here's the link and here's the text of that news item:
Self-defence forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic have taken control over a missile defence army unit equipped with Buk missile defence systems, the press service of the Donetsk People’s Republic told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
So far, no details are available about the number and condition of the missile systems taken over by the self-defence forces. The press service refused to comment.
The Buk missile defence system is a mobile medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system designed to defend field troops and logistics installations against air threats in conditions of heavy electronic countermeasures and intense enemy fire.
Statement from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly:
OSCE PA President deplores apparent downing of Malaysian Airlines flight
COPENHAGEN, 18 July 2014 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) issued the following statement today on the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine:
“I deplore in the strongest possible terms the apparent downing of a Malaysian Airlines flight near Ukraine’s border with Russia. On behalf of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this horrific tragedy and to the governments whose nationals have perished.
“A swift, thorough, international investigation is needed to determine the exact circumstances of the crash and bring the perpetrators to justice. However, there are already strong indications that a missile launched from rebel-controlled areas may have caused this catastrophe. In that case, there would be no doubt that those responsible for the illicit flow of military hardware and weapons into eastern Ukraine and those who directly or indirectly challenge the Ukrainian government’s authority over its own territory bear the ultimate responsibility. I reiterate my call for an unconditional ceasefire that is respected by all sides and urge the governments in Moscow and Kyiv to do all in their power to immediately de-escalate this situation.”
President Kanerva futher urged the Russian and Ukrainian governments to enlist the OSCE’s full support at this critical time.
This video has been posted to YouTube by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry that it claims shows a launch vehicle for the type of antiaircraft missile system that's being blamed for the Malaysia Airlines downing being transported toward the Russian border. The clip is titled "Fighters withdraw the missile complex 'BUK' to the border with the RF."
The Ministry also issued a statement citing the clip and quoting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov saying the video was shot at 4:50 a.m. local time today with the vehicle in question moving "through Krasnodon in the direction of the border with Russia."
It says two of the uncovered missiles can be seen in place, while there is a space between them where another missile would normally lie.
"This and other pieces of information are now being analyzed. It must have been about the same 'BUK' SAM that shot down the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur civilian aircraft," the minister is quoted as saying.
In the article, Avakov also pledges that a full account will be published after the investigation but adds, "I believe this fragment should be published immediately."
We're working on a translation but there is another tape from the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) with separatists reportedly discussing obtaining a 'Buk' launcher from Russia and moving it to Donetsk. More on this soon.