That “separatist took responsibility” bit comes from a tweet that was reported in the western media to have come from a rebel leader, but in fact came from a web site that purports to support him. Be very careful about what you read in the mainstream media. We’re seeing a coordinated propaganda offensive here; at the very least our ruling elite is attempting to exploit this tragedy for its own gain.
Russia would have nothing to gain from such a ham-fisted move; and whatever you may think of his motives, Putin isn’t stupid enough to do sponsor such an act. At this point, the following possibilities strike me as most likely:
1) The shootdown was organized by U.S. intelligence (or some proxy) in order to embarrass Russia and turn international public opinion against Russia and its allies; or
2) Yulia Timoshenko, or persons allied to her, arranged the shootdown in order to embarrass the current Ukrainian president, with an eye to regaining the presidency.
The tweet certainly makes it seem like the shoot-down was an ACCIDENT. The separatists boasted of shooting down a MILITARY TRANSPORT plane, which is much smaller than a 777, but has a similar shape and flies much lower (making it look much bigger than it is). If the military escorted the B777 to just the edge of the war zone, no wonder the separatists mistook it for the military transport.
Absolutely true. The same goes for Kiev.
The shootdown was organized by U.S. intelligence (or some proxy) in order to embarrass Russia and turn international public opinion against Russia and its allies;
Even if the Regime were that evil, that would be a difficult feat to pull off without getting caught. You can spin such whackjob nonsense in retrospect all you want, but a priori, there are far too many things that could go wrong.
Yulia Timoshenko, or persons allied to her, arranged the shootdown in order to embarrass the current Ukrainian president, with an eye to regaining the presidency.
Guano. When it was shot down, the plane had already flown over most of Ukraine (about 700 miles). Obviously, if it had been a plot to embarrass the Kiev government, the plane would have been shot down over unambiguous Kiev territory. And, again, difficult to pull off without getting caught.