This in addition to Russian backed militant leader Igor Strelkov’s announcement on social media yesterday that they had “shot down a plane”, adds to the damning evidence that it was the Russian backed militants who did this. Strelkov has been identified as Russian, real name Igor Girkin, who has been leading the “separatists” for months. He has been identified by multiple sources, including the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, as a Russian agent.

N.B. RT @CAndrewMorse: Fmr US Amb to Russia -> RT @McFaul Russian GRU officer Strelkov admitting that he ordered the missile …

— John Batchelor (@batchelorshow) July 17, 2014

@Max_Fisher Yes, they deleted it. I saved the videos, though. Also, here is Strelkov on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/YIUw6xRwd5

— Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) July 17, 2014

The militants had previously boasted of having Buk missile system and shooting down Ukrainian planes in the past week.

Tweets yesterday from the militants claimed they had recovered the black box from the plane. This morning, according to Fox, the militants are claiming they don’t know where the black box is. The plane fell in a militant-controlled area.