Originally Posted by
ATC Watcher
But this is in fact just a side show.. Athorising the delivery of anti aircraft missiles in time of war is not unusual and there seem to be conscensus that the military staff l that operated the BUK did not target specifically the 777, and di not identify it as a civilian aircraft until after it was shot down . . Allowing civilian ttafiic to overfly a war area is more the issue I would say .
Yes and no.
IF it had been known to Ukraine, that the airspace above the FL250 (or so, bear me the exact FL) was unsafe, the airspace would have been closed. Though according to available information, there were no weapons able to reach that Height/Altitude/FL (choose what measuring method you want to use) in that area, so the upper transit airways were presumed to be safe.
We do have a situation, that an alien "power" did bring a lethal weapon into an area, where they should not have been at all, with their military, able to reach the upper airways. Deploying such a weapon, brings the obligation to be careful with what you do. At least, that is the way rule based world order is reasoning. The dictatorial way of thinking (Russia, China, Iran, Trump, to name a few), just ignores this and tries to grab as much as they think, they can get away with, using whatever method seems to be effective (IE the way children in kindergarten do, though also gradually learn, there are rules, whether you are allowed to grab those nice sweets).
The Buk was sent/deployed without its normal control units, which would have been able to determine the foo difference of potential targets. Now, they only had a primary radar, showing there was an aircraft, without being able to identify the foo.
But hey, to realize & coordinate these things, you need to be civilized above the level of Neanderthals, something we not have seen developed in barbarian Russia, emphasized by the amount of war-crimes against the civilian population (and the slaughtering of their own troops in the meat grinders) .....