[Uncle Chip]

There is no way to mistake a commercial jet flying at 33,000 feet still climbing as it is 5 minutes from passing out of your air space for a Ukrainian transport plane that would have to be dropping altitude and slowing down in preparation for landing.

[kabar]

It all boils down to the individual and who gives the orders. They could have been tracking the plane and someone mistakenly pulled the trigger. I see no real advantage for the Russians or their surrogates to shoot down a civilian airliner.

The ML flight was a code share with KLM hence the substantial majority of passengers being Dutch, a NATO ally.