I don’t think a prop plane (AN-26) can fly that high. Maybe they can for a short while, but the air is too thin for props to have optimum thrust. I DO believe that these “rebels” are dumb enough to target a 777 at 36k ft. thinking it was a prop plane. From what this guy wrote on his blog it seems to be the case unless somehow he was just told that and it was a set up!
There is no way to mistake a Ukranian cargo plane for a jet liner at that altitude ? So whoever fired the missile knew what they were hitting ? Or as you state, it was a dumb mistake.
I was an Air Force crew member on a special mission Herk (EC-130E) back in the 90s...flying over Bosnia, we sometimes climbed to 30-31K later in a sortie, after burning off enough fuel.
Maximum service ceiling for a C-130 is 33K; ceiling for an AN-26 (twin-engine turboprop versus four engines on the C-130) is about 24K.
Hard to believe they could “mistake” a 777, crusing at 34K and 500 kts of airspeed for a turboprop flying 10,000 feet lower, and at a speed of around 220 kts.