Rebel commander Alexander Khodakovsky of the so-called Vostok battalion - or eastern battalion - speaks during an interview in Donetsk, July 8, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Maxim Zmeyev
Ukraine Rebel Commander Acknowledges Fighters Had BUK Missile -- Reuters
(Reuters) - A powerful Ukrainian rebel leader has confirmed that pro-Russian separatists had an anti-aircraft missile of the type Washington says was used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and it could have originated in Russia.
In an interview with Reuters, Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of the Vostok Battalion, acknowledged for the first time since the airliner was brought down in eastern Ukraine on Thursday that the rebels did possess the BUK missile system and said it could have been sent back subsequently to remove proof of its presence.
Before the Malaysian plane was shot down, rebels had boasted of obtaining the BUK missiles, which can shoot down airliners at cruising height. But since the disaster the separatists' main group, the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, has repeatedly denied ever having possessed such weapons.
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My Comment: A difficult report to follow .... it appears that a lot is lost in the translation .... or it is not being translated properly. But news that the pro-Russian rebels had a BUK missile system in their arsenal is not new .... everyone who has been following this conflict know that the rebels had seized this missile system from a Ukrainian base that had fallen in June, and were boasting of it's capture on social media. But what we do not know is .... were these missile batteries operational, and did the crew have the launch codes and know-how to operate them. This Reuters "exclusive" unfortunately does not answer those questions.
Update: Donetsk Commander Denies Telling Media Militia Had Buk Missiles During MH17 Crash -- RIA Novosti
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