Russia has joined the US/NK/China club of shooting down an airliner
Russia joined that club around 1984.
Not sure of the timing but Russia if one includes the USSR might of been the inaugural member shooting down the KAL flight during the 80s.
Russia was already in it. . Since around 1940...There was an incident over the Baltic. Also KAL 007.
Russia joined that club long ago. Just ask Lt Col Gennadi Osipovich:
"I saw two rows of windows and knew that this was a Boeing," he said. "I knew this was a civilian plane. But for me this meant nothing. It is easy to turn a civilian type of plane into one for military use."Minutes later, he fired two air-to-air missiles, sending Korean Air Lines Flight 007 crashing into the sea, killing 269 people and causing what President Boris N. Yeltsin has called the greatest tragedy of the cold war.
At least the USS Vincennes had the excuse that they believed they were under attack by a fighter armed with Exocet missiles. Earlier, in the same waters, the USS Stark had been hit by an Exocet fired by an Iraqi Mirage, supposedly by mistake. 37 sailors died.
The Ukrainian rebels apparently thought they were bagging another AN-26.