Yes, and people forget that Ukraine is not just one big farm: Many people there are technically proficient, computer-wise, too. 2 weeks of training and “good to go”?Not only that, a good number also have had training on a variety of Russian equipment: The militaries used to work closely together, and Ukraine uses the BUK missiles to this day. I’d guess that at least 1/3 of the Ukraine military in the east of the country defected to the separatists - it’s one of the large problems the Ukrainian forces had and to some degree still have.
Still, if Putin handed over a BUK battery to the rebels without hands-on Russian army (clandestine) supervision, he was a fool. Even then, there was the guy on TV* talking about the likely operators’ “dangerous incompetence”: A BUK and a bottle of vodka an hour earlier is not a good combination...
*Related to me by my wife - some “military analyst” I guess, probably on FOX, but I’m not sure of the network.
In fact rebels has bragged they’ve overrun an air defense base capturing two Buks in late June, though it was reported both were in bad condition.
I'm not sure why this whole "lone drunk Russkie" thing keeps getting repeated. Maybe it's because Russkies are known to be drunks, but that doesn't mean it was one guy shooting it down without orders. One of the recordings of the shootdown and crash was filmed by the "separatists" themselves, and it is pretty clear they were operating as a unit, and were pretty gleeful about it too.