MH17 Malaysia airlines plane shot down over Ukraine

Teinz said:

Day of mourning in the Netherlands as first victims arrive on Eindhoven Airport.

I followed the ceremony on the telly, then went out to watch the procession go past. Thousands of people were out, lining the highways. Rarely have I seen my countrymen weep openly. Today, tears were everywhere.

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I saw a little on the news last night. Very moving. Made me cry too.

Breaking - what no proxy force dressed in black?

have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russia to attack Ukrainian military positions," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/24/us-ukraine-crisis-usa-artillery-idUSKBN0FT2EV20140724

WTF???

Both the US and the EU have imposed sanctions on Russia. Russia says: "Bring it on."

Still, the willingness (however grudgingly) of EU leadership to endure the pain these sanctions will inflict upon their own economies, is encouraging.

I was coming into Schippol airport during the time when the bodies were being returned, while news of the Taiwan and Algiers crashed was breaking. So surreal.

*Someone* seems to have a vested interest in ramping up the tensions:
CNN News Story

Even as officials inspect the humanitarian aid on the Ukraine-Russia border, Ukrainian officials say Russia still is sending weapons to rebels in Ukraine and building up Russian troops along the border.

A convoy of Russian military vehicles crossed the border overnight, Lysenko said Friday.

The vehicles didn't constitute a Russian invasion of Ukraine, but their sighting represents the latest example of what the Ukrainian government says has been happening for months.

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More developments, if reports are to be believed.

Ukraine claims its artillery destroyed much of a military convoy that crossed from Russia into Ukraine this week -- an incursion that two British newspapers say they witnessed.

If true, Ukraine's account and the British reports appear to give credence to what Kiev has long alleged -- that Russia has been sending troops and arms into eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels have battled the Ukrainian military for months.

A diplomatic row was brewing Friday over the reports, with the United Kingdom's foreign office summoning Russia's ambassador in London to explain the incident.

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British papers The Telegraph, and The Guardian both report witnessing the convoy of APC's (Armored Personnel Carriers).

The Guardian reported that it witnessed 23 armored personnel carriers, in addition to other vehicles with Russian military plates, cross into Ukraine through a gap in a barbed wire fence. "Armed men were visible in the gloom by the border fence as the column moved into Ukraine," the Guardian report reads.

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If the aid convoy was a diversion for the armored one, I fear this will get much worse before it gets better.

Yup, Russia, good luck going it alone with your homophobia, xenophobia, and anti-science nonsense, guys. I hope the Russian Orthodox Church lets go some of its stored gold and assets to help its good friend Putin in his hour of need. Then again, I would not be surprised to see him turn on them and annex Church assets for the good of the state.

The sad thing is, I have good friends in Russia who are in despair over how quickly the promises of 1989-1990 were perverted. Following the article Alessandra linked to, I'd guess the Russian bear will double down and become even more belligerent and isolated. I'm hearing more and more rumors of major EU and US companies possibly preparing to abandon Russian properties and branches, if the situation goes from just 'very bad' to 'catastrophic'.

Joint Investigation Team findings

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is convinced of having obtained irrefutable evidence to establish that on 17 July 2014, flight MH-17 was shot down by a BUK missile from the 9M38-series. According to the JIT there is also evidence identifying the launch location that involves an agricultural field near Pervomaiskyi which, at the time, was controlled by pro-Russian fighters.

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https://www.om.nl/onderwerpen/mh17-crash/@96068/jit-flight-mh17-shot/

So, something we already suspected, but now, more or less, ironclad. What will the consequences for Russia be? Sanctions? Business as usual?