“Andrei Purgin, the self-styled first vice premier of the unrecognized Donetsk People's Republic, told Interfax the separatists do not have weapons that could shoot down a plane flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters.”
Yet a few days earlier the same source confirmed that they (the separatist) had capture a long range BOL surface to air missile system which has an effective operational range of 25 kilometres and they would be using it to enforce to establish a no fly zone.
Now add the following.
The reports state the passenger aircraft was travelling at it normal cruising altitude of 10 kilometres (10,000 metres). The effective reach of the BOL is 25,000 metre. That is two hand half time further than the height the aircraft was travelling.
The reports also state that separatist though the aircraft they were engaging was an AN 26. This aircraft has a maximum service ceiling of 7.5 kilometres. That is 2.5 kilometres lower than the altitude of the aircraft being engaged.
That is any competent operator would have immediately realised that the target being engaged could not possibly have been an AN 26
This is not a case of simple tragic accident. It is a case of the kind of tragic consequences which rise when you place sophisticated weapons systems in the hands of people not trained to use them.
