Quote:
Originally Posted by Catfish
But how about shooting down the right plane, the Antonov, then? Was that a legitimate target, for Russia?
Russia is still intervening militarily, in the Ukraina.
"In December 2015, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin admitted that Russian military intelligence officers were operating in Ukraine, insisting though that they were not the same as regular troops. Currently, 7% of Ukraine's territory is under occupation."
I am not sure whether war is declared, so is the death of people in this interval of time murder, homicide or legitimate killing in a war?
B.t.w. Netherlands, Belgium or Russia - international law should always stand above brute force regardless of the nation's size. Should.  |
While Ukrainian official narrative is that it is at war with Russia, there is no formal declaration of war and near peace time relations (trade, travel, etc) are maintained. The narrative is there to mobilise the Ukrainian population away from the obvious systematic failures of Ukrainian leadership. Poroshenko tried to pull the wartime declaration through to get through the elections but failed.
I would also say that while there is a degree of foreighn (and not just Russian) intervention the war could be summarised as a civil war in Ukraine and has local roots.
As to who has shot down the airliner - my opinion is that it was the Kiev loyalists, but again that was due to operator error, much like the 00s shot down over the Black Sea.