Malaysia Air crash in Ukraine

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all on board. The flight, heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was carrying 283 passengers, mostly Dutch, and 15 crew members. The debris field had a radius of 1.2 miles, indicating that the plane broke up or exploded in the air.

The plane went down in the rebel-held province of Luhansk, and the Ukrainian government has accused the Russian-backed rebels of attacking the plane with an SA-11, or Buk, antiaircraft missile. Rebels have denied having possession of Buk missile launchers.

Ukrainian officials released recordings of conversations purportedly between rebels and Russian military officers discussing the downing of a plane, including acknowledgements that the plane was civilian.

The plane’s black boxes, initially held by rebels, were handed over to Malaysian and Dutch investigators.

The Ukrainian government made headway in July in its fight against Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. On July 6, Ukraine retook the city of Sloviansk and, the next day, the cities of Artemivsk and Druzhkivka. On July 22, the Ukrainian military captured the Donetsk airport.