Apparently, firing the type of missile system that can lock onto a moving target at 10,000 m (where large passenger planes tend to be) is a HIGHLY specialised skill, that requires a team of people who are trained to work together as a in a professional situation. Completely computerised.

It seems really unlikely that the rebels would have BOTH the equipment AND the necessary skills.

It doesn't seem logical that it's them.

If any local militia could shoot down a Boeing 777 at cruising height, then surely terrorists around the world would be doing it regularly? I think it takes a proper national military to do that and therefor I'm leaning towards UA military, simply making a huge mistake.

Apparently UA downed a Russian passenger plane in 2004, by mistake over the Black Sea.

I think they somehow mistook the plane for a military aircraft and downed it. Like a drone or a fighter jet. Apparently Russia has been sending drones over the area.

But isn't the mis-identification spectacular?

A Boeing looks nothing like a drone or military planes, it's MUCH larger and flies much higher. Surely drones and military aircrafts don't fly at that height?! It seems very odd that it wasn't possible to distinguish between a Boeing 777 and a military target.

Whoever is behind this obviously didn't do it on purpose, but what a monumental fail. So tragic. If it is the rebels despite my hunch, then it's a PR suicide.

Did you notice the fire engine? I was just a little bit sad to see that this rural area is using a 45 year old fire engine at a major aircraft disaster. Well done them for keeping it operational for that long. It looked in good shape despite its age. But they must be very short of funds if they can't afford to replace a fire engine from the 1960s.

Thank goodness at least nobody local was killed! With bad luck, there could have been deaths at the impact location too.

If you want to be really sinister there are two aspects:

1) Malaysia Airlines --- again?! What are the odds?!
2) Some kind of psy-ops / black ops operation to turn public opinion and pave the way for NATO intervention in Ukraine.