The tragedy of flight MH17

The downing of the Malaysian airline flight MH17, which originated from the Netherland (also called Holland), en route Kuala-Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, over Donetsk in Ukraine is a tragedy of immense proportion. The flight had on board 298 passengers and crew.The plane which came down in rebel-held area of the strife-torn country was believed to have been hit by a surface-to-air (SA) missile.

Since the downing of the airliner, there have been arguments about who fired the missile that created the unspeakable human tragedy. The rebels, popularly but erroneously tagged pro-Russia, have denied responsibility, claiming that they did not possess a missile capable of bringing down plane flying at the height of the ill-fated plane. They believed the Ukrainian military did it. The West, led by the United States of America, has accused Russia of fueling the crisis in Ukraine and should, therefore, take responsibility for the tragedy. Moscow, on its part, denies any involvement and has called for an international inquiry into the tragic affair. Meanwhile, a US investigation has revealed Ukrainian rebels may have fired the missile in error. The report claimed that Moscow is only guilty by association with the rebels.

While we ally ourselves with the call for an impartial international investigation, we think it is pertinent to put what is happening in Ukraine in a proper perspective to better appreciate the catastrophe that was the downing of flight MH17.The western military alliance, led by the United States, in desperation to gain a foothold in Moscow’s backyard, instigated, and supported a street demonstration in Kiev, the Ukraine capital, which culminated in the forcible overthrow of the elected government of Mr. Viktor Yanukovich. The pro-western mob that violently sacked the regime, instituted in its place an anti-Russian, neo-fascist regime, inspite of the fact that ethnic Russians constitute a significant majority in Ukraine.

Genuinely fearing ethnic cleansing, the largely Russian-speaking area of Crimea organized a referendum to decide its future and an overwhelming 98% of the people decided in favour of a merger with Russia. The West claimed what had happened was land grabbing by Russia, but said nothing about the hysterical anti-Russia ranting of the rogue regime it helped to institute in Kiev.

More ethnic Russians in the far eastern part of Ukraine, alarmed by the real prospects of persecution, declared independence from Kiev and went on to mobilize armed resistance. The military stand-off between Kiev and the rebels in eastern Ukraine, therefore, was the immediate cause of the downing of the Malaysian airliner, and only a credible and impartial international enquiry can unravel who actually pulled the trigger between the two belligerents, Kiev or rebels. Demonizing Russia as the West is now doing smacks of Cold War mentality and does not represent the fact in this case. Afterall, a Russian brokered agreement that would have led to an inclusive transitional government, with an election brought forward by two years, as a solution to the Ukraine crisis was rejected by the pro-western anarchists who went ahead to sack a constitutional government.

We empathize with the victims of the crashed Malaysian airliner and their families, who have been tragically drawn into a conflict fuelled by a Cold War strategy of Western powers, seeking the containment and encirclement of Russia.