MAJOR UPDATE – U.S. Intelligence confirm a surface to air missile was used to shoot down MH-17 Passenger Plane.

In addition a recent release of ground conversation between Russian groups and Ukrainian Rebel separatists friendly to Russia show they talked about shooting it down and discussed after:

Here’s the full translation of the video, provided by Kyiv Post:

Igor Bezler: We have just shot down a plane. Group Minera. It fell down beyond Yenakievo.
Vasili Geranin: Pilots. Where are the pilots?
IB: Gone to search for and photograph the plane. It’s smoking.
VG: How many minutes ago?
IB: About 30 minutes ago.

After examining the site of the plane the terrorists come to the conclusion that they have shot down a civilian plane. The next part of the conversation took place about 40 minutes later.

“Major”: These are Chernukhin folks shot down the plane. From the Chernukhin check point. Those cossacks who are based in Chernukhino.
“Greek”: Yes, Major.
“Major”: The plane fell apart in the air. In the area of Petropavlovskaya mine. The first “200” (code word for dead person). We have found the first “200”. A Civilian.
Greek: Well, what do you have there?
Major: In short, it was 100 percent a passenger (civilian) aircraft.
Greek: Are many people there?
Major: Holy sh*t! The debris fell right into the yards (of homes).
Greek: What kind of aircraft?
Major: I haven’t ascertained this. I haven’t been to the main sight. I am only surveying the scene where the first bodies fell. There are the remains of internal brackets, seats and bodies.
Greek: Is there anything left of the weapon?
Major: Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper.
Greek: Are there documents?
Major: Yes, of one Indonesian student. From a university in Thompson. Fuck.

In a final phone call, included later in the recording, a rebel checks in with a Cossack commander.

Rebel: Regarding this plane that was downed in the Snizhne-Torez area. It turned out to be a passenger aircraft. It fell near Grabovo. A lot of bodies of women and children. Now the Cossacks are looking at all that.
Rebel: The TV said it was AN-26. A Ukrainian cargo plane. But Malaysia Airlines is written on it. What was it doing on Ukraine’s territory?
Cossack commander: It means they wanted to bring some spies to us. Fuck them. They should not fly, we are at war here.

Dear Leader Obama:  …”it looks like it may be a terrible tragedy”.

Before giving an infrastructure speech in Delaware, President Obama made brief comments on the horrible incident in Ukraine today after a Malaysian Airlines flight crashed there after it was likely shot down. He said, “It looks like it may be a terrible tragedy.”  (link)

(CNN) — A Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine.  Malaysia Airlines confirmed that it lost contact with Flight 17 and that the plane’s last known position was over Ukrainian airspace, the airline said on Twitter.

The aircraft was “shot down” over Ukraine by “terrorists” operating a Buk surface-to-air missile system, according to the Facebook page of Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. There were 280 passengers killed as well as 15 crew members, Gerashchenko’s post reads.

https://twitter.com/strobetalbott/statuses/489809871475593216

#Ukraine military spox: No survivors, 280 dead on Malaysian Air flight. Separatists have 'BUK' weapon capable of shooting it down.

— Simon Ostrovsky (@SimonOstrovsky) July 17, 2014

The plane was shot down near the town on Torez in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, according to the post, as it flew at about 10,000 meters (32,000 feet).

“We do not exclude that the plane was shot down and confirm that the Ukraine Armed Forces did not fire at any targets in the sky,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, according to his website.

FlightRadar24 showed the plane disappearing near Kremenchuk, Ukraine.

The jet is a Boeing 777, according to Interfax, a Russian news agency. The plane reportedly went down near the border between Russia and Ukraine.

“We are aware of reports on MH17. We’re gathering more information,” Boeing said on Twitter.

“I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in another tweet.

I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation.

— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) July 17, 2014

News of the Malaysian plane comes in the same week that Ukrainian officials said a Russian fighter shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane while the aircraft was in in Ukrainian airspace.

The route the Malaysian plane was on, between Kuala Lumpur and the Netherlands, is a common one, CNN aviation safety consultant Mary Schiavo said Thursday. She said that the plane was flying over a troubled area and that close communication with air traffic controllers would be a key necessity.

In hostile or disputed areas, “any alteration from your course, and you can have a problem,” she said.  (continue reading)

(Via SKY NEWS)  A passenger plane which crashed as it flew over eastern Ukraine with 295 people on board was reportedly shot down.

The Malaysia Airlines plane, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was travelling at an altitude of 33,000 feet (10,000 metres) when it was shot down, Russia’s Interfax reported.
An adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry told the news agency the Boeing 777 was brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile.
All 280 passengers and 15 crew members who were on the plane are believed to have died, he added.  A spokesman for Malaysian Airlines, still reeling from the loss of flight MH370 in March, confirmed it had lost contact with flight MH17, which took off from Amsterdam at 12.15pm local time.  (read more)