Why did the Russians shoot down a passenger plane?

The Soviet Air Forces treated the unidentified aircraft as an intruding U.S. spy plane, and destroyed it with air-to-air missiles, after firing warning shots. The Korean airliner eventually crashed into the sea near Moneron Island west of Sakhalin in the Sea of Japan.



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The court found that a Russian-made missile supplied from Russia and fired by an armed group under Russian control brought down flight MH17. The men - two Russians and one Ukrainian - were found guilty in absentia and sentenced to life in jail. A third Russian was acquitted.

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Ukraine and Russia are scheduled to face off at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the top United Nations court – over Moscow's support for pro-Russian forces blamed for “insurrection” against the Ukrainian state and armed violence that included the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014, ...

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