“Seems this equipment was a bit more complicated than a home project.”
Yep, but it predates the breakup of the Soviet Union and 60 units were left in Ukraine, and obviously there are Ukrainian soldiers that know how to use it (on both sides of the civil war)...so this particular unit may have always been “owned” by the rebels.
There’s no way to know independently - we have to rely on what the US president tells us, and he is DESPERATE to get his open borders policy out of the headlines.
So...who knows?
Well, that’s just complete BS. Don’t you read or comprehend simple facts?
-The plane was shot down over 100Km inside rebel territory. It was targeted and shot down at first opportunity, 20Km from the Buk launcher and more than 100Km inside rebel territory so your fantasy that the Ukrainians could have shot it down is a lie. Perhaps you think a Ukrainian mobile SA-17 did a scoot and shoot more than 100 Kms into rebel territory?
-Civil aviation had cleared the plane’s altitude for flying since the rebels were not known or believed to have missiles capable of reaching 33,000’. Over 300 planes flew over the rebels’ Ukrainian territory each day.
-A photograph was taken on the evening of the shoot down showing a Buk SAM system with a missile missing loaded onto a flatbed truck reportedly travelling towards Russia.
-Radio intercepts of the rebels claim it was a “Cossack” SAM unit which had arrived in the early morning hours of the day the plane was shot down. Ergo, a Russian SAM system crewed by Russian military.