Should airspace over Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan etc. be closed too?
The Ukrainian authorities
were fully aware that the separatists had access to BUK missiles (range by some estimates: 72000 feet!) so by deliberately keeping the Eastern Ukrainian airspace open >30000 feet makes them just as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger.
Anyone who has ever tried to separate two fighting dogs knows: these dogs are at 'war' with each other and will bite at anything that moves and think about the consequences later.
A cool and calculated move in which the Ukrainian authorities deliberately allowed civil aviation into an area where trigger-happy separatists were shooting at Ukrainian Air Force aircraft is IMHO criminal negligence, and the people and politicians that allowed this human shield to be in place should be tried at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague
together with with the person who pressed the "launch" button.
Again, contrary to The Ukraine, EU, US and Russia, I do NOT have a political axe to grind or a propaganda war to win: I'm only thinking about AVIATION and my PERSONAL safety!
p.s. FYI Lena.Kiev, Syrian and Iraqi airspace is largely a no-go area at the moment, most Europe-Middle East traffic is rerouted to the east via Iran and to the south via Saudi Arabia. With regards to Afghanistan: contrary to Ukrainian airspace, Afghanistan's airspace is heavily patrolled by Coalition aircraft who have a total air supremacy. Although it's of course impossible to rule out a single nutcase with a Stinger, the situation on the ground and in the air in Afghanistan is largely stable, which is again in large contrast to the situation in the Eastern Ukraine in July 2014 which was a full blown civil war!