A United States official announced late yesterday that American intelligence agencies had confirmed Malaysia flight MH17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. The Obama Administration is in close contact with the Ukrainian government.
President Obama addressed the issue soon afterward and acknowledged that U.S. national security officials were working to find out more information. Rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine are denying any role in the incident after an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister said a Buk anti-aircraft missile system shot down the Malaysian passenger airliner. The rebels denied possessing such a missile system.
"We do not exclude that this plane was shot down, and we stress that the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take action against any airborne targets," said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, in this Washington Post article. "We are sure that those who are guilty in this tragedy will be held responsible."
Despite the rebels' denial of possessing Buk missiles, journalists reported seeing similar weaponry in the region earlier on Thursday. Additionally, the Ukrainian Security Service released a recording of intercepted phone calls in which the pro-Russian separatists allegedly discussed shooting the Malaysian airliner down.
"We have just shot down a plane," says one man on the tape, identified as Igor Bezler, one of the leaders in the pro-Russian separatist movement in eastern Ukraine, at about 4:40 p.m. local time.
"It was 100 percent a passenger aircraft," another man, identified as "Major," responds later, according to the Washington Pos.
The airliner had 189 Dutch, 29 Malaysians, 27 Australians 12 Indonesians, nine British, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian, one New Zealander, and four unidentified passengers on board, according to The Telegraph. The nationalities of the remaining 15 passengers were not disclosed, and President Obama said the government is working to determine whether any Americans were on the flight. All 15 crew members were Malaysian. A total of 298 people died, as opposed to the original 295, after it was discovered that three infants were on board.
Anton Herashenko, the adviser who blamed the rebels for the attack, said Russian President Vladimir Putin "generously provided" the Buk missile system to the rebels.
"There is no limit to the cynicism of Putin and his terrorists!" Reuters reported him as saying.
