UKRAINE - The Shooting Down of Passenger Plane MH17 (4 parts)

"MH17 crash in war zone poses security challenges, but may be aided by more ‘eyes’" (Part-1) PBS NewsHour 7/18/2014

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JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Leaders from around the world called for an investigation into who shot down the Malaysian passenger plane.  But how can that be done in the middle of a war zone?

Hari Sreenivasan has that.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  For that, we turn to New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti, and P.J. Crowley, who served as assistant secretary of state during the first Obama administration and is now a fellow at George Washington University.

Mark, I want to start with you.

From your sources in the intelligence community, is there any certainty on whether the surface-to-air missile was from Russia or from the rebels?

MARK MAZZETTI, The New York Times:  Not total certainty on that point.

You heard President Obama say — put the blame pretty squarely on Moscow today, saying either they did it themselves or they gave it to the rebels and they were doing this by proxy.  Either way, the president said, and as intelligence officials are sort of pointing out, it’s — Russia is escalating the conflict by introducing these surface-to-air missiles.

But you raise a good point.  Exactly how this happened, exactly how the missiles got there and when they got there is still an important point to — question to answer.

"Understanding the risks of flying in unfriendly skies" (Part-2) PBS NewsHour 7/18/2014

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SUMMARY:  For a closer look at the challenges on the ground at the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines plane in Eastern Ukraine, Judy Woodruff talks to Matt Frei of Independent Television News from Donetsk.  Science correspondent Miles O’Brien (NewsHour) joins in to discuss why the jetliner was on a flight path over a conflict zone.

"Did Russia destroy key evidence from the MH17 crash site in Ukraine?" (Part-3) PBS NewsHour 7/19/2014

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SUMMARY:  Ukraine accused Russia and pro-Russian separatists today of destroying evidence that could offer clues about the downing of the Malaysian Airlines plane that went down in Ukraine earlier this week.

"Kerry:  Evidence mounts pointing blame at pro-Russian separatists for MH17" (Part-4) PBS NewsHour 7/20/2014

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SUMMARY:  Pro-Russian separatist leader Alexander Borodai said today that critical evidence has been recovered from the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that is believed to have been shot down Thursday near the Ukrainian-Russian border.  Secretary of State John Kerry said there was overwhelming evidence that pro-Russian separatists shot down the plane.