Ukrainian plane shot down by Americans - military expert
The version about a technical malfunction of the Ukrainian Boeing that crashed in the skies of Tehran seems unfounded.
This opinion was expressed in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets by military expert Alexey Leonkov, who was repeatedly involved in the investigation of plane crashes.
He says that the version of a technical problem or pilot error seems unconvincing and calls for a close look at the reaction of the Ukrainian authorities, who still do not have a clear position on the disaster.
“In my opinion, they are keeping silent about another version that is not related to a technical malfunction. This is the shooting down of an airplane by an air defense system. In the current realities, only the United States could shoot down. And if Ukraine announces that the airliner was shot down, then a shadow will fall on their allies and main sponsors – the Americans,” says the publication’s interlocutor.
The expert does not rule out that the plane was shot down by mistake of American air defense operators.
“But I am inclined to another version: this is a deliberate provocative blow. The rocket attack itself, as we see, was not destructive. Therefore, Trump did not have enough victims to take decisive measures. That’s how the unfortunate Boeing, packed with people, ended up in the crosshairs of the American air defense,” Leonkov believes.
According to him, two scenarios are possible. The first was that air defense systems hit a defenseless airliner from Iraqi territory. The second - there was a sabotage group working, hitting the airliner on takeoff with MANPADS.
He believes that the point of such a provocation is to drag Iran into confrontation, make it out to be an aggressor, and then use the US’s favorite tool in the form of strengthening international sanctions and involving as many countries as possible in them, shaking up the situation inside Iran.
“This is the combination, in my opinion, that the Americans decided to pull off, and this required a serious provocation with casualties. Alas, the Ukrainian Airlines airliner could have become the object of such a provocation,” says Leonkov.
Let us remind you that on January 8, almost immediately after takeoff from Tehran airport Boeing 737 crashed Ukraine International Airlines company.
A few hours earlier, Iran launched a missile strike on American bases in Iraq, thereby avenging the death of their general Qassem Soleimani.
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