Rutland on Malaysian Airlines Crash in Ukraine

Writing in the Mirror (UK), Peter Rutland, Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, responded to the downing of a Malaysian Airlines plane in Ukraine, the third aircraft to go down in the region in recent days.

Rutland writes:

If the Malaysian Airlines plane is confirmed as having been shot down, then that is three aircraft shot down in the space of three or four days.

The escalation in violence may possibly be a deliberate strategy by Russia, not a random event. Sadly today’s incident appears to have been a tragic and terrible error.

[…]

The question is whether the escalation in the force, in the weaponry used, was a deliberate policy by Putin – or whether some parts of the Russian military are operating on an almost freelance basis – out of the control of Moscow?

Rutland is also professor of government, professor of Russian and Eastern European Studies, and a tutor in the College of Social Studies.