--- description: Statements both from Ukrainian officials and a rebel commander directs damning attention to Russian involvement in recent air assaults title: Malaysia Airlines Crash: Ukraine Rebels Had BUK Missiles, Leader Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b7c52fc07fa8589/69869cfd13c79f66bc193360/ap123080234425.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ukraine Separatists Had Surface-to-Air Missiles, Rebel Leader Admits ## Video: Watch: TIME's Simon Shuster And Getty's Brendan Hoffman on The MH17 Aftermath [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: TIME's Simon Shuster And Getty's Brendan Hoffman on The MH17 Aftermath](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TUxxp7Jz.m3u8) (5:27)  _Published 2014-07-24. The author of this week's TIME cover story and an acclaimed Getty photographer paint a rarely seen image – through words and photographs – of the aftermath of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine_ by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2014 9:40 AM CUT  In this framegrab made from a video provided by press service of the rebel Donetsk People's Republic and icorpus.ru, pro-Russians collect parts of the burning debris of a Ukrainian military fighter jet, shot down at Savur Mogila, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, July 23, 2014. In this framegrab made from a video provided by press service of the rebel Donetsk People's Republic and icorpus.ru, pro-Russians collect parts of the burning debris of a Ukrainian military fighter jet, shot down at Savur Mogila, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, July 23, 2014.icorpus.ru—AP by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2014 9:40 AM CUT A separatist commander in Ukraine [admitted](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/23/us-ukraine-crisis-commander-exclusive-idUSKBN0FS1V920140723 "undefined") Wednesday that pro-Russian fighters possessed the surface-to-air BUK missiles that are believed to have brought down the Malaysia Airlines commercial flight in the east of the country last week. Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of the Vostok Battalion, told Reuters that separatist groups had possession of a missile system, but suggested that it might have been returned to Russia after the Malaysia airlines flight was shot down. “I knew that a BUK came from Luhansk,” he said, referring to another rebel-held town in Ukraine. “They probably sent it back in order to remove proof of its presence.” The news came as the Ukrainian government [implied](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28454735 "undefined") Russia had been behind the shooting down of two fighter jets Wednesday, near where MH17 was shot down last week killing 298 on board. Ukraine’s national security spokesperson Andriy Lysenko [said](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/world/europe/Malaysia-Airlines-jet-ukraine.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") that “preliminary investigations” have found that the attack on two Su-25 fighter jets came from the Russian side of the border, while Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk stayed just short of indicting the neighbor country. “Look, we all know who’s behind the scene,” he said in an interview with the _BBC_. The suggestion that the rebels had the technology to bring down MH17 matches claims by Washington and Kiev, but was [denied](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28457737 "undefined") by rebel leader and prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Borodai in an interview with _BBC_ on Wednesday. “No, we didn’t get a BUK, there were no BUKs in the area,” he said. Heavy fighting in the area controlled by pro-Russian separatists has continued throughout the international emergency brought on by the MH17 disaster. A total of 35,549 people have been [displaced](http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ukr%5Fdisplacement%5Funhcrocha%5F20140723.pdf "undefined") by the conflict since July 1, and 18,600 have fled their homes only in the Donetsk province. In total, 11 Ukrainian aircraft have been [brought down](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ukrainian-aircraft-shot-down-by-pro-russian-separatists/2014/07/23/4f4565e2-12bc-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed%5Fgraphic.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm%5Ftwitter%5Fwashingtonpost "undefined") in the conflict, but the latest strike on the two Su-25 fighters—so close in time and geography to the catastrophe of MH17—is sure to keep international focus on the cataclysmic situation in the region. Separatists claim they hit the Su-25 fighters, which were returning from a mission, with shoulder-fired missiles in retaliation to Ukrainian bombing of civilians. However, Ukrainian officials said the jets were flying at an altitude exceeding the reach of such weapons. 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