Ukraine: Black Boxes Confirm MH17 Was Shot Down

A spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council said the black boxes from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 confirm that the plane was indeed shot down over eastern Ukraine earlier this month.

Spokesman Andriy Lysenko said data from the flight recorders show "the reason for the destruction and crash of the plane” on July 17 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur “was massive explosive decompression arising from multiple shrapnel perforations from a rocket explosion.”

But, like many aspects of the tragedy, confusion reigns. Investigators and Australian Federal Police say they will take a more cautious approach before committing to such a finding, particularly since heavy fighting in the region has prohibited them from entering the crash site.

Pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian loyalists have been clashing for months now. Both sides have accused the other of shooting down the commercial jet with a surface-to-air missile.

The news comes on the heels of two developments in the last week. An Italian newspaper reported that a pro-Russian militant said his unit shot down the plane by mistake, confusing it for a Ukrainian military jet. The source told Corriere della Sera that they were waiting for crew and troops to land on the ground via parachutes. But when he saw a child’s body, the militant told the paper he knew they had made a mistake.

Also, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the incident might qualify as a war crime, and demanded a "thorough, effective, independent and impartial investigation.”