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MH17: Russian media pins blame on Ukraine government

While western suspicions about the culprits behind the MH17 disaster grew, in Russia on Saturday the local media were striking a different note.

State-run news channels in Russia replayed statements from defence officials arguing that Ukraine‘s planes and air defence units were operating in the area. Several pro-Russia rebel leaders have argued on air that they don’t have weaponry capable of shooting down the plane, although Russian news agencies previously said they did.

An anchorwoman on Rossiya 24 said Russia was challenging “American accusations” and, “in a continuation of the information war, asking Kyiv uncomfortable questions”.

Both Rossiya 24 and NTV aired footage of deputy defence minister Anatoly Antonov posing “10 questions” to the Ukrainian government, asking if Kyiv could “explain the deployment of Buk missiles in the area of the Boeing,” and suggesting that Ukrainian dispatchers had “allowed the plane to change course for a war zone”. Malaysia Airlines has said the plane’s route had been approved by the European flight supervisory body.

Russian newspapers’ front pages splashed a photograph of a rebel fighter pointing at burning debris, and the Moskovsky Komsomolets printed a map of air defence positions, hinting that Kyiv’s forces were to blame. “The Ukrainian authorities bear full responsibility!” screamed the tabloid Tvoi Den, referring to Vladimir Putin‘s remarks that the disaster would not have happened had Kyiv not resumed its military campaign in east Ukraine.

A variety of media, including the official newspaper of the Russian government, quoted the Twitter account of a “Spanish dispatcher” supposedly working for Ukrainian air traffic control, suggesting that two Ukrainian fighter jets shot down MH17. The Spanish embassy later said the account was fraudulent and denied that any Spanish person had worked as an air traffic controller in Kyiv.

Others, including the website of Rossiya 24, reported allegations from a rebel social network page that the flight had been full of dead bodies when it was shot down.

Valery Grinblat, a professor browsing newspapers at a Moscow stand, said he didn’t trust accusations against the rebels because “Ukraine always lies”. He said Kyiv’s forces probably shot the Boeing down, bringing up a 2001 incident in which Ukraine admitted its fighter jets had accidentally shot down a Siberian Airlines flight.

“Never trust Ukraine,” he said. “There needs to be an investigation by an international independent commission to believe any explanationAlexander Nikolayev, a pensioner and former soldier, said it was unlikely the rebels had shot down the plane. “Ukraine says Russia is to blame, Russia says Ukraine is, America blames Russia. You’ll never figure it out without a half-litre” of vodka, he said, using an old Russian expression..”