![>](style_images/Executiv-909/nav_m.gif)
Putin Says Ukraine 'Bears Responsibility' for Malaysia Flight Jet Crash:
Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday blamed the Ukrainian government for the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, saying the state bears some responsibility for fighting that may have led to the jet's apparent downing by a surface-to-air missile. Ref. Source 5
Malaysia MH17 crash: 10 questions Russia wants Ukraine to answer:
Some Western states and Kiev rushed to find Russian involvement in the MH17 crash having no evidence to back their claims, Russia's Deputy Defense Minister told RT. He invited Ukraine to answer 10 questions to prove their commitment to an impartial probe. Ref. Source 4
Is There a Russian Conscience? A European?
When I was a graduate student at Columbia University's Russian Institute, there was a great debate: Was the communist Soviet Union an organic Russian development or was it largely a cancer imposed on it? Those who held the organic view argued that the change from czar to commissar was only one of degree. Both were tyrannies, the latter more tyrannical than the former. I agreed with the second view, that communism was something radically new, not a logical, let alone inevitable, Russian path. The czars were autocrats, not genocidal totalitarians. I have to admit that in recent years, I... Ref. Source 6
Russian military fires artillery into eastern Ukraine
'Clear escalation' of hostilities, says Pentagon. [..] Russia has about 12,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, Warren said. Russian tanks, artillery and rocket launchers have crossed into Ukraine to support separatists there. Ref. Source 3
Russia Grants Refugee Status to 233,000 Ukrainians - Russian Ombudsman:
66 regions of the Russian Federation are receiving refugees from Ukraine. The number of officially registered refugees now stands at 233,114 people, including 34,503 children Ref. Source 1