Rebels Shoot Down Two Ukraine Su-25 Warplanes in East

Ukraine Once Again Tries to Blame Russia

Despite a promise by the Poroshenko government of a ceasefire for 40 km around the downed Malaysia Airlines MH17, warplanes have been active daily in the area, and today two Su-25 fighters were shot down over Dmytrivka, east of Donetsk.

Rebels confirmed the two downings, saying they shot down the planes with shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. Such incidents have been increasingly common as Ukraine has turned to airstrikes in their “anti-terrorist operation.”

Equally common to rebels shooting down a Ukrainian warplane is Ukraine trying to blame Russia for directly doing it, and once again today officials claimed the anti-aircraft fire came from Russian territory, though as usual they offered no evidence of that assessment.

There were questions as to whether or not the rebels used shoulder-fired missiles or a more advanced 9k37 Buk. Rebels confirmed they had a Buk vehicle, though the commander quoted said he believes it was sent to Russia after the MH17 incident.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.