I was in Eastern Ukraine two days before MH17 was shot down. The war was not going well for the Russians, the Ukrainians could use air power unlike the Russians who would find it difficult to explain why aircraft were crossing the border whilst the pilots were no doubt on their holidays. Russian ground troops, on their holidays, were massed on the borders ready to invade but the Ukrainian Air Force had to be denied use of the air. Hence, the deployment of the Buks. Unlike the Russian special forces who took over government offices to start the 'rebellion', Buk operators or even tank crews on their holidays will not make any move unless it comes from their established chain of command. Any suggestion on here that anything else occurred is either extremely misinformed or in some cases deliberately misleading.