What you refer to as “Russian technical involvement on the ground” means that the Russians provided and crewed the missile battery, selected the target, aimed, and fired. Russia has denied participation in the Ukrainian separatist rebellion. Claiming that they hit the airliner by accident would be an admission that they were both lying and engaging in acts of war against a neighboring country. Putin is a murderous thug. Discrediting him requires no invention, only the revelation of his criminality.
It is still premature to blame the most obvious source
In fact to target this aircraft required knowledge and control over Ukraine’s entire ATC system
With rumors flying it will take among time for facts to be determined, if an honest revelation is ever made, since it is so convenient for the US and the West to blame Putin
Today it is being reported in the Daily Mail (UK semi tabloid but often publishes sources and details well before they appear in US MEdia) that Ukrainian military assumed control of the country’s ATC and directed the Malay airliner on a flight path to the north over enemy territory and at an altitude 2K ft below what the pilot requested - while an IL-76 cargo plane was simultaneously being sent on the southward route usually used by passenger airliners
Did the Ukrainian military use the ATC system to set up the airliner as a decoy so they could get a heavy in to resupply their blocked troops to the southeast? It is a plausible scenario IF there was in fact an IL-76 flying at 33k ft in southeast Ukraine at the same time
Someone knows the truth but will we ever find out, given the rush by both sides to secure the black boxes and aletr or destroy evidence, especially if it is inconvenient for the West to find that our “allies” participated in such a reckless act