@severe clear
newer variant can, it seems there was an update in 1984 which increased the ceiling for ~26K feet (from 46 to 72), I have read on a russian forum that the system they operated was "more than 30 years old" so I guess it was the older missile
Buk missile system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
not that wikipedia is the most reliable source but they should be right here
@Duralumin
"I'm surprised that no comparison is being made with the Vincennes shoot down of the Iran Air Airbus. The Vincennes captain had all the information including the transponder squawk yet he still shot."
that shows that highly trained professionals also make mistakes, however this is a bit different case as it involves more sides that could be labeled responsible, including those who improperly trained them and actually enabled them to use the weapon and those who had the info about the weapon and their trigger-happiness and still didn't close that airspace
@wasthatit
"Are the 'rebels' this incompetent?"
unfortunately they are...
@Xulu
"I'd like to see the UN move in to secure the area. Then if the rebels have a problem with that, we can destroy them - and if the Russians have a problem with that, then tough luck, they aren't going to declare war on the UN."
heh, there is a small problem..Russians can veto any UN decision