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发帖数: 29846 | 1 U.S. Says Evidence Points to Separatists in Missile That Downed Malaysia
Airliner
The U.S. said Friday that the Malaysia Airlines 3786.KU -11.11% plane that
crashed in Ukraine was likely downed by a ground-to-air missile from rebel
territory, as Russia came under a barrage of criticism from the West over
the disaster.
The plane carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew crashed in the battle-torn
eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk, where pro-Russia separatists are
occupying several towns in a three-month conflict.
U.S. officials say there is evidence the missile that downed Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17 was fired from a Russian-made SA-11 or buk system, and
that evidence points to pro-Russian separatists as those responsible. Julian
Barnes joins Lunch Break with Lee Hawkins. Photo: Getty/File Photo
President Barack Obama, who called the downing of the flight a wake-up call
for Europe and the world, said the U.S. and its allies would impose further
costs on Russia if it continues to back the rebels.
"This should snap everybody's heads to attention," Mr Obama said from the
White House as he squarely blamed the separatists for the tragedy. "Evidence
indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile from an
area that is controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine," he
said a news conference.
Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Flight 17 from Amsterdam to
Kuala Lumpur appeared to have been shot down. Though she said it wasn't
clear who did so, she warned that Russia bore responsibility for events in
Ukraine and Moscow "must do its part to calm the situation." (Follow the
latest updates on the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine.)
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, delivered a
strong and lengthy statement to the Security Council in New York detailing
evidence that the Malaysian plane was "likely downed" by an SA-11 anti-
aircraft system "operated from a separatist held location" in eastern
Ukraine close to the Russian border.
"Russia must stop destabilizing Ukraine," Ms. Power said.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia of "supplying military
personnel and state-of-the-art weaponry" to insurgents, calling on the
international community for an "adequate response."
The tough words ramped up pressure on President Vladimir Putin to rein in
the separatists.
Mr. Putin said Russia would do everything it could to "ensure that an
objective understanding of what happened becomes available to the Russian
public," but a Kremlin statement reiterated his stance that Ukraine was at
fault.
The Russian president joined Mr. Obama and Ms. Merkel in calling for a cease
-fire. "We are coming from a position in which peace should flourish as soon
as possible in Ukraine; direct contacts between opposing sides should be
established," Mr. Putin was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying
following a meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox church.
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The Boeing BA +1.35% 777 went down near the separatist-controlled village of
Hrabove in an area that has witnessed heavy fighting in recent days.
The first international observers arrived early Friday evening at crash site
, in rural eastern Ukraine, where sunflower fields, vegetable patches and
grainfields have become a grisly scene of death. The 30-person team from the
Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, the body that has been
mediating between Ukrainian and Russian officials and Ukrainian separatists,
arrived after receiving assurances of safe passage by the rebel movement
that controls the area around the crash site.
But their reception was tense, with rebels letting loose a burst of gunfire
into the air in greeting. Only 17 members of the group were allowed to
inspect the massive crash zone for about 75 minutes.
On Friday, Ukraine's aviation regulator declared a no-fly zone over the area
of the fighting. Several airlines have already rerouted flights to avoid
the area and a handful had restricted flights previously in the region,
following a surge of violence there in recent weeks.
Footage captured from the wreckage site showed a massive gray plume of smoke
emerging from a field before sunset. Later images showed emergency forces
hosing down the wreckage, as well as passports, tickets and body parts found
near the crash site.
Separatists immediately went to the scene after the crash, which Ukrainian
authorities had complained they were unable to reach. The Organization of
Security and Cooperation in Europe, the body that has been mediating between
Ukrainian and Russian officials and Ukrainian separatists, said they are
expecting the armed rebels in control of the area to allow 30 members of
their team to secure the crash site and help them repatriate the bodies,
according to OSCE spokesman Shiv Sharma.
The group will be attempting to negotiate the recovery of the "black boxes"
that could be crucial to revealing the last moments of the commercial
jetliner, Mr. Sharma said. Conditions on the ground remained chaotic, with
conflicting reports about their whereabouts.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation also said it would send at least one
person to assist in the probe, an official said, though that could grow if
Americans are determined to have died or there are specific requests for
assistance.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 departed Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur at 4:15 p.m.
local time on Thursday. About four hours later, it crashed near the border
of Russia and Ukraine. WSJ's Jason Bellini walks through the timeline of the
tragedy.
U.S. intelligence agencies confirm that a surface-to-air missile was fired
at Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton
joins the News Hub with Sara Murray to discuss what type of weaponry could
have brought down the plane.
So far, however, no official outside safety investigative body has been
declared to be in charge, stoking increasing concerns that Ukraine or Russia
will attempt to shift any probe to their benefit.
Crash investigators typically require police or security officials to try to
immediately seal off the site, with the primary goal of preventing
outsiders from disturbing the wreckage or making off with critical evidence
such as the flight-data and cockpit recorders.
Finding and evaluating missile remnants will be key to solving the puzzle,
according to Robert Francis, a former vice chairman of the U.S. National
Transportation Safety Board.
"Being able to get to the wreckage is important to determine what kind of
missile" may have been involved, according to Mr. Francis.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state news television that
Russia wouldn't take the black boxes. "We have no intention of breaking the
norms that exist for that sort of situations in the international community,
" he said.
For months, Ukrainian forces have been trying to subdue pro-Russia
separatists who seized towns across the eastern region in April and declared
an independent republic. The fighting escalated this week when Ukrainian
authorities reported that one of their military cargo planes and one of
their military fighter jets had been downed in the area. |
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