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As Putin again claims “no proof” of Russian responsibility for #MH17 shootdown, let’s recount the incontrovertible evidence as I lay out in #TheShadowWar
1- US satellite and radar data showed within hours that the missile was fired from inside Russian-controlled territory. 1/
1- US satellite and radar data showed within hours that the missile was fired from inside Russian-controlled territory. 1/
2/ Blast pattern in cockpit and fuselage of plane corresponded to blast pattern of Russian BUK antiaircraft missile system - in front of and above target.
3/ Pieces of BUK missile were found inside the bodies of cockpit crew, along with pieces of windshield.
3/ Pieces of BUK missile were found inside the bodies of cockpit crew, along with pieces of windshield.
4/ Eyewitness accounts and photographs tracked the BUK missile and mobile launcher’s arrival in Russian-controlled territory hours before the attack and its departure hours after & subsequent return back inside Russia proper.
5/ The pro-Russian separatist commander whose forces fired the missile bragged about the strike on social media minutes after the attack, thinking they had hit a Ukrainian military jet. “We warned you, stay away from our skies”, he said.
6/ When OSCE monitors arrived on the crash scene, Russian soldiers were already there, barring them from collecting evidence or even human remains.
7/ And in classic Kremlin fashion, a misinformation campaign began immediately including spreading false rumors that Putin’s plane was in the area and was the intended target of Ukrainian forces.
8/ As the head of the DIA’s Missile and Space Intel Center told me: “So that same day, in less than 12 hours, we had a high-confidence assessment. In the intelligence community, high confidence carries some weight with it that you have pretty convincing evidence.”
9/And reiterating: pieces of a Russian BUK missile were found *inside* the bodies of the MH17 cockpit crew.
