“Maybe because they couldnt conceive of any Russian or Russian sympathizer being stupid enough to mistake a 777 for a Ukrainian military transport plane.”
Ever seen an IL-76? At 33,000 feet?
Maybe go a little north.
I never operated a Buk missile system but I presume properly trained operators don’t rely on eyesight to identify targets. But then again, since its the Russians involved, maybe they just don’t give a damn. In either case, the fault lies not with Poles or Ukrainians or Georgians or Latvians or Lithuanians or Estonians.