Laughing rebels filmed the plane as it crashed, gleefully bragging ‘That was a blast – look at the smoke!’ while a fireball rose from the debris.
One of the voices is believed to be militia commander Igor Strelkov, who then penned a triumphant war cry on Twitter, saying: ‘We warned you – do not fly in “our sky”.’
A sickening mobile phone video posted online shows a pall of black smoke billowing over the crash site as three rebels provide an excited commentary.
The extraordinary footage – apparently filmed by the shooters themselves – charts the terrible final moments of the doomed airliner.
Gloat: Ukrainian rebel Igor Strelkov published a tweet indicating he thought his rebels had shot down an Antonov-26 military plane of the Ukrainian Air Force. It now appears it was Malaysian Airlines flight MH17
Their camera does not zoom in enough to see the plummeting plane in the sky, but the rebels’ voices can be heard talking happily of ‘black spots – these are the parts flying’, suggesting it fell to earth in several pieces.
A voice believed to be that of Strelkov – dubbed ‘Igor the Terrible’ – announces: ‘The plane was hit!’ He adds: ‘Look at those black spots, these are the parts, flying … it was a blast … look, look, black smoke!’
Another rebel, possibly referring to the missile system, laughs and says: ‘It was worth bringing this thing, wasn’t it?’
None of the rebels can be seen in their horrific film, but it appears to be genuine because at the time only they seemed to know what was happening. Ordinary life carries on in the village where they are standing. A bus trundles by and an unsuspecting villager is seen wandering past the camera.
Shortly after the passenger plane was downed, Strelkov – seen smirking in propaganda photos – tweeted a boastful message claiming responsibility.
Destroyed: An armed pro-Russian separatist stands at a site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region of Ukraine
At the time, he apparently believed he had shot down an Antonov-26 military plane of the Ukrainian Air Force, saying it landed near a mine named Progress.
His chilling message read: ‘In the area Torez we just hit down An-26, it’s lying somewhere in the mine “Progress”.
‘We warned you – do not fly in “our sky”. And here is the video confirmation of the “bird dropping”.
‘Bird fell near the mine, the residential sector was not disturbed. Civilians are not injured.’
Later as the horror became clear, the tweet was deleted.
Transcript that chills the blood
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian newspaper published the transcript of a phone call reportedly intercepted by Ukraine’s security services where rebels are heard discussing finding MH17′s wreckage.
Militants nicknamed ‘Major’ and ‘Greek’ were recorded speaking as ‘Major’ inspected the crash site and found only ‘civilian items’. Also on the line were Igor Bezler, who the SBU says is a Russian military intelligence officer. Below is the full transcript of the conversation.
Far from civilians being unharmed, accounts began to emerge of bodies falling out of the stricken plane over the village of Rassypnaya. Residents said charred and naked bodies lay in the streets.
Strelkov, who minutes earlier had been boasting about his ‘military’ success, seems to have gone to ground once he realised his catastrophic mistake.
A man of mystery with at least three names, Strelkov believed by Ukraine to be a serving Russian colonel in the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the country’s army – a charge firmly denied by Moscow.
He commands pro-Russian forces now in control of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, but his enemies suspect he is a direct agent of the Kremlin.
SEPARATISTS ‘FIND MH17 BLACK BOX’
People were scouring the area for the black box flight recorders and separatists were later quoted as saying they had found one.
According to Russian news agency Interfax, First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Purgin of the breakaway Donestsk Republic said they will be transferred to Moscow for examination.
‘There are highly qualified experts who will be able to accurately determine the cause of the disaster, even though it is so clear,’ he said.
Meanwhile, armed separatists are hindering search efforts at the crash site, the head of Ukraine’s emergency services said.
‘The search work is difficult because we are talking about a big radius… but also because armed terrorists who are on the spot are hampering things,’ Serhiy Bochkovsky told journalists. He gave no details.
The secret service in Kiev claims his real identity is Igor Girkin.
He has an ex-wife and children still living in Moscow, and his Russian passport number and address in Moscow have been published by media in Ukraine.
Neighbours in the Moscow suburb where he lives know him as Igor Girkin, but his men call him Igor Strelok – meaning ‘Igor The Shooter’.
Whoever Strelkov is, his name crops up time and again in Russia’s troublespots.
He was in and out of Chechnya between 1999 and 2005 as an agent of the Federal Security Service – the former KGB – according to some reports.
And when Putin decided to annex Crimea earlier this year, Strelkov was stirring up hatred on the Russian president’s behalf, Kiev claims.
Ukrainian intelligence says he crossed the Ukrainian border in Simferopol on February 26, when the Crimean parliament was seized.
He was personally blamed for the abduction of several peacekeeping observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Strelkov accused the observers of being ‘professionally trained spies’ carrying ‘special devices’ and claimed Russia would decide their fate.
In the Russian right-wing media, Strelkov is regarded as a hero figure, one prepared to sacrifice his life to the cause of the Russian state and its future. One profile called him ‘a Russian civil war romantic’.
Others regard him as an enemy, a terrorist and a criminal responsible for several high-profile killings.
An unverified image posted online show Ukrainian inspecting what appears to be wreckage from the doomed flight
Power: BUK missile launchers are capable of taking down aircraft the size of a Boeing 777 flying at a cruising altitude of 33,000 feet, meaning the impact is likely to have blown the plane apart in the sky (file picture)
Video Source YouTube
In April, the EU named him on its list of sanctioned Russians who were posing threats to Ukraine’s independence.
Eccentric Strelkov, who is obsessed by military history, has been known to dress up in the uniforms of civil war generals, as a Cossack and even in a suit of armour.
One profiler wrote: ‘He looks like a military officer of an earlier generation, with short hair and clipped moustache, complementing his “little green man” military fatigues. He is quiet-spoken, calm, and – his extreme political views notwithstanding – highly intelligent.’
The news comes as footage that some claim proves Russia has launched military attacks on Ukraine from its own territory emerged today.
Some claim that this footage proves Russia has launched military attacks on Ukraine from within its own border
Journalist Roman Bochkala posted a map showing where the alleged attack originated
The images allegedly show an attack by a truck-mounted ‘Grad’ 122 mm multiple rocket launcher from close to Gukovo in Russia’s Rostov region across the frontier into neighbouring Ukraine.
Kiev has been making increasingly strong complaints that Moscow is mounting attacks from its own territory as well as supporting insurgents with weapons and reinforcements.
Moscow has denied such accusations.
The head of organization ‘Civil Initiative’ Dmitry Snegirev claimed today that this footage – from late on 16 July – shows strikes from Gukovo onto Krasnodonsk district in the Lugansk region of Ukraine.
He claimed locals had provided the information about the ‘Grad’ strikes.
Ukrainian journalist Roman Bochkala wrote on Facebook: ‘Here is direct evidence of shelling of Ukraine with “Grad” from the territory of the Russian Federation. Two units are firing in the village Gukovo, Rostov region.’
Claiming it was not the first such strike, he posted a map showing where the alleged attack originated.
THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE REBEL CONVERSATION
A phone call between rebels where they are heard to say ‘holy s***’ when they realised their error was intercepted by Ukraine’s security services, according to a Ukrainian newspaper.
Militants nicknamed ‘Major’ and ‘Greek’ were recorded speaking as ‘Major’ inspected the crash site and found only ‘civilian items’.
Also on the line were Igor Bezler, who authorities says is a Russian military intelligence officer and leading commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, and a colonel in the main intelligence department of the general headquarters of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, Vasili Geranin.
The unverified transcript was posted online by the Kiev Post newspaper:
Igor Bezler: ‘We have just shot down a plane. Group Minera. It fell down beyond Yenakievo (Donetsk Oblast).
Vasili Geranin:’Pilots. Where are the pilots?’
IB:’Gone to search for and photograph the plane. Its smoking.’
VG: ‘How many minutes ago?’
IB: ‘About 30 minutes ago.’
The next part of the conversation took place about 40 minutes later, it was reported.
Major: ‘These are Chernukhin folks who shot down the plane. From the Chernukhin check point. Those cossacks who are based in Chernukhino.’
Greek: Yes, Major.
Major: ‘The plane fell apart in the air. In the area of Petropavlovskaya mine. We have found the first 200 (code word for dead person). A Civilian.’
Greek: ‘Well, what do you have there?
Major: ‘In short, it was 100 per cent a passenger (civilian) aircraft.’
Greek: ‘Are many people there?’
Major: ‘Holy s***. The debris fell right into the yards (of homes).’
Greek: ‘What kind of aircraft?’
Major: ‘I haven’t ascertained this. I haven’t been to the main site. I am only surveying the scene where the first bodies fell. There are the remains of internal brackets, seats and bodies.’
Greek: ‘Is there anything left of the weapon?’
Major: ‘Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper.’
Greek: ‘Are there documents?’
Major: ‘Yes, of one Indonesian student. From a university in Thompson.’
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