Apparently, the restricted airspace established by the Ukrainian government only extended to 32,000 feet. So technically MH17 was not in restricted airspace.
That said, if I had been piloting that plane and it was suggested by any ground control that I fly over eastern Ukraine, I think I would refuse that corrections. I mean, how bad could that weather along the normal path be that you would fly over an active combat zone.
I was just thinking about this....
Today, after we were handed off into U.S. airspace, (I was not the PIC), we didn’t question the routing we were given into FXE. We just followed it, around some scattered stuff all the way to the threshold.
WHO routed that aircraft over an active war zone?