Malaysian flight MH17 / Ukraine conflict 2014

So only two were taken? But the separatists has shot down more than two planes.

Such a system contains more than one missile.

Another plane missing today, this time from Burkina Faso. 116 on board.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28465010

Dutch TV will be showing the arrival of today's flights (74 coffins) live - tomorrow's flights will be transmitted as well. Arrival, ceremony, convoy. Respect, again.

xpost: had changed course because of bad weather, crashed in Mali, apparently

Mali is pretty underrated as far as war/conflict zones go

Dutch TV has started broadcasting news and updates after all, since the loading of the 74 hearses and the ceremony were going to last for another couple of hours. The convoy is still about two hours away from leaving the base now.

(Two hours away from *arriving* at the base)

Bit OT, but these articles were fascinating (particularly for anyone with a background in DCS-like sims).
Don’t Think Russian Rebels Can Learn How to Fire an Anti-Air Missile? Try This Simulator
Realistic to the switch: An interview with SAM Simulator’s Hpasp

There's a number of demonstrations of SAM Simulator on YouTube for those curious about what kind of blips were visible to the separatist SAM operators.

thanks for the links - i'm very interested in intersection between ludic/simulations + war and this seems like a wrinkle on it, kinda on the opposite end of the spectrum from war games which are meant to simulate tactics + maybe ideology as opposed to technical expertise

https://twitter.com/SeppBlatter/statuses/492610417655836672

Sepp Blatter offers his condolences for the plane crash in Mali.

Nothing about MH17, how odd. People wonder if Russia 2018 (football world championship) has anything to do with it.

Idk, if Putin can offer condolences I don't see why Blatter would feel restricted.

People wonder if Russia 2018 (football world championship) has anything to do with it.

Why are they wondering? It's fucking Blatter, of course it's about the 2018 World Cup.

xp
Cause Blatter is even eviler than Putin and besides that, he isn't under any pressure to at least appear sympathetic. Wouldn't surprise me if he thought better of chiming in on MH17 even if the discrepancy isn't all that conspicuous either way.

From a reporter friend in Ukraine:

https://scontent-a-kul.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/q74/s720x720/1604950_10152577767767235_8944509303155521237_n.jpg?oh=15bd9f1e0cdd0527a27bae0b7d62f2ca&oe=544E6793

Posted on the door of the Donetsk People's Republic press center. Where foreign reporters go to get their accreditation done.

#mygeneration

The Dutch / Australian investigation team has been forced to postpone their initial visit to the crash site because of fighting. Ukraine had declared a 40km ceasefire zone around the site but appear to have decided cutting Donetsk off from the Russian border is more of a priority at the moment. There have been reports from Western journalists of shelling / Grad missile attacks on residential areas and dozens of civilian casualties. This could go on for a while.

The Dutch Justice Ministry said the team was unable to leave the city of Donetsk because "there is too much fighting at the moment on and near the route to the disaster site."

Also from CNN

But those sanctions have so far failed to stem the flow of weapons or the fighting, which appeared to enter a dangerous new phase Tuesday on reports that Ukraine's government had used short-range ballistic missiles against the rebels, according to three U.S. officials.

The weapons have a range of about 50 miles (80 kilometers) and pack up to 1,000-pound (454-kilogram) warheads. If the reports are accurate, they are the most deadly missiles to date used in the conflict.

The officials did not specify exactly where the missiles hit or what damage they caused.

One U.S. official said so far, there has been no reaction from Russia. A second official said it is not clear if the United States will show satellite imagery of the Ukrainian firings "because these are the good guys."

Whether it was ballistic missiles or conventional shelling, the Ukrainians managed to bomb a geriatric home this morning.

The separatists seem to have stepped up kidnappings.

Have to sleep in a few minutes, just wanted to note that the remains of the Malaysian victims are finally arriving home in a few hours.

we won't be able to top the stoic dignity and elegance of the Dutch ceremony, but I do sure hope we try.

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crashed as a result of a Russian-made 9M38 Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board says.

this is weirdly moving

https://instagram.com/p/8x2ciYiFvb/

how is there not more international blowback from this

I think there will be but it'll take time, it's a complicated situation. The route the Netherlands is going down is probably the correct one - supporting the families in taking legal action against Russia. Although it's assumed that the rebels shot the plane down with a BUK mistaking it for Ukrainian military transport, there's no point in suing them directly. They'll need to show that they got the missiles from Russia, which isn't 100% straightforward. Both armies use them and the rebels captured quite a lot of Ukrainian hardware when they took over Donbass.

Diplomatically, it's not a great time for governments to make a big thing of it - the situation has settled down and the US and EU are pressuring both sides into a negotiated settlement with regional autonomy and elections. Novorossiya flags are coming down and a lot of the people who were nominally in charge of the rebel militias have left and are doing other things. The likes of Strelkov are probably beyond the reach of international justice:

http://i.imgur.com/nHxBtU0.jpg?1

There's also an interesting precedent to be considered in how far a country is directly responsible for the weapons it gives to non-state actors. If Russia is liable for the actions of militias it supports, the US and UK are responsible for the dubious people it provides assistance to in Syria, etc. Legally, it's correct but it's not necessarily something people are going to want to bring to the forefront of public attention.

*thread bump*

Lost in all the news this week was that defense arguments for the four men charged in absentia with shooting down MH17 starts Monday.
https://www.courtmh17.com/en/