U.S. intelligence confirms pro-Russian rebels shot down Malaysian plane

A Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people and traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, falls in a Ukrainian field.

July 18, 2014Personal belongings and luggage of passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which crashed while flying over eastern Ukraine. The plane was carrying 295 people.Anastasia Vlasova/European Pressphoto Agency

By Michael Birnbaum and Anthony Faiola July 18 

KIEV, Ukraine — A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment indicates that a Malaysia Airlines plane that crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine was shot down by an antiaircraft missile fired by pro-Russian separatists, a U.S. official said Friday in Washington.

Russian President Vladi­mir Putin offered condolences to families of those on a plane shot down over eastern Ukraine, but said it “would not have happened if there was peace on that land.” (Reuters)

U.S. Intelligence Confirms Pro-Russian Rebels Shot Down Malaysian Plane by Maria Anderson