Putin 'Bears Responsibility' for MH17 Disaster, say U.S. Intelligence Chiefs
-But They Admit to Finding NO Evidence that Russian Leader was Directly Involved
- Officials claim separatists didn't realise MH17 was a commercial jet
- No clear evidence that missile which hit plane originated from Russia
- But officials claim Moscow 'created the conditions' that led to disaster
- Intelligence suggests culprits were inexperienced with hi-tech missiles
Russia 'bears responsibility' for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, U.S. intelligence officials said, but they offered no evidence that Vladimir Putin was directly involved.
The senior intelligence officials were cautious in their assessment, noting that while the Russians have been arming separatists in eastern Ukraine, the U.S. had no direct evidence that the missile used to shoot down the passenger jet came from Russia.
The plane was probably shot down by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the intelligence officials said.
They also said that after analysing taped phone conversations between separatists obtained by U.S. intelligence it could be all but concluded that the culprits did not realise they were targeting a commercial airliner.
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U.S. intelligence officials say it's likely pro-Russian rebels were not properly trained in operated the sophisticated surface-to-air missiles which brought down MH17
It comes a day after the first pictures emerged of damaged panels from MH17, which appear to show evidence of shrapnel and missile damage
Officials say the separatists likely didn't intend to take down a commercial airliner
After the Crime, Comes The Cover Up: Tony Abbott on MH17 Evidence:
'Five days into it [following the crash] it does appear to be a mistake,' one official said.
The officials briefed reporters over intelligence related to last week's air disaster, which killed 298 people.
It comes a day after the first pictures emerged of damaged panels from MH17, which appear to show evidence of shrapnel and missile damage.
They cited intercepts, satellite photos and social media postings by separatists, some of which have been authenticated by U.S. experts.
But the officials said they did not know who fired the missile or whether any Russian operatives were present at the missile launch.
U.S. President Barack Obama visits the Dutch Embassy in Washington to sign a book of condolence
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HOW THE U.S. WAS QUICK TO BLAME PUTIN FOR ATTACK ON FLIGHT MH17
'It's pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia in the hands of separatists. We know with confidence, with confidence that the Ukrainians did not have such a system anywhere near the vicinity at that point in time'
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
'A group of separatists can't shoot down military transport planes, or they claim, shoot down fighter jets without sophisticated equipment and sophisticated training and that is coming from Russia'
U.S President Barack Obama
'The context for yesterday's horror is clear. Separatist forces backed by the Russian government continue to destabilise Ukraine'
Washington's ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power
'If it is the result of either separatist or Russian actions mistakenly believing this is a Ukrainian warplane, I think there’s going to be hell to pay'
Former U.S. presidential candidate John McCain
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They were not certain that the missile crew was trained in Russia, although they described a stepped-up campaign in recent weeks by Russia to arm and train the rebels, which they say has continued even after the downing of the commercial jetliner.
In terms of who fired the missile, 'we don't know a name, we don't know a rank and we're not even 100% sure of a nationality,' one official said.
White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the US was still working to determine whether the missile launch had a 'direct link' to Russia, including whether there were Russians on the ground during the attack and the degree to which Russians may have trained the separatists to launch such a strike.
'We do think President Putin and the Russian government bears responsibility for the support they provided to these separatists, the arms they provided to these separatists, the training they provided as well and the general unstable environment in eastern Ukraine,' he said in an interview with CNN.
He added that heavy weaponry continues to flow into Ukraine from Russia following the downing of the plane.
The intelligence officials said the most likely explanation for the downing was that the rebels made a mistake.
Separatists previously had shot down 12 Ukrainian military aeroplanes, the officials said.
The officials made clear they were relying in part on social media postings and videos made public in recent days by the Ukrainian government, even though they have not been able to authenticate all of it.
For example, they cited a video of a missile launcher said to have been crossing the Russian border after the launch, appearing to be missing a missile.
Separatists previously had shot down 12 Ukrainian military airplanes, the officials said
About 200 bodies were transported to eastern Ukraine, where aircraft - including an Australian Boeing C-17 - were due to repatriate the victims to the Netherlands
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