I was intrigued to read a letter published in Times of Malta last Wednesday, in which Russian Ambassador Boris Marchuk took to task a correspondent for daring to state that ‘Russia’s involvement (in the tragedy of Malaysia Airline flight MH17) is unmistakable’.

More so, as I had just read a briefing on the subject in The Economist that concluded that “the evidence (of Russian involvement) seems, if circumstantial, incontrovertible”.

Probably, the Russian Ambassador would opt to be finicky by pointing out that the words used by The Economist are not tantamount to ‘unmistakable’.

For me, it is near enough. But then the Russian Ambassador would probably also opt to believe one of the bizarre conspiracy theories that were dished out by the Russian media in an effort to exculpate Russia’s responsibility in the tragedy.

It is said that man is the most successful creature as a result of his ability to be dishonest, as a result of his duplicity.

This may well be true. Dishonesty is ingrained in human nature, of whatever ethnicity or citizenship, and one of its causes is known to be the fact that motivation and pride blind us all and encourage us humans to lie, even if this happens unconsciously.

Accusing victims of some transgression to be the perpetrators of a wrongdoing is one of the ways in which duplicity is exercised by human beings.

At a lower level, one would find members of the police force – in any country of the world, including Malta – abusing of their position and afterwards covering up their illegal behaviour by accusing their own victims of breaking the law, inventing fictitious circumstances and making false allegations in the process.

History has shown that when this behaviour is assumed by a State the result cannot but be tragic.

Russia, of course, enjoys no monopoly in this, but its behaviour regarding the MH17 incident seems to be exactly this type of behaviour.

There is no doubt that Russia has been sending weapons and fighters into East Ukraine.

Moreover, after the initial success of Ukraine’s President, Petro Poroshenko, in his campaign to thwart the separatists, there was a surge in weapon supplies coming from Russia.

Up till then, several Ukrainian military planes and helicopters had been shot down but the range of the available weapons was limited to 2,000 metres with anything flying at a higher altitude being considered safe.

American intelligence re­ported that a large convoy of around 150 vehicles moved from Russia to Ukraine on July 13 and it is said that this included tanks, artillery, Grad rocket launchers, armoured personnel carriers and Buk missile systems.

This last type of missiles that could hit aircraft at the altitude that MH17 was flying had not been in the hands of the separatists before then.

Russia, it must be said, denied having sent such missiles; while the Ukrainians have denied earlier reports in the Russian media that had reported that the rebels had captured such missiles from them.

In the web of deceit that surrounds what is happening in east Ukraine, it seems that anyone can say anything and hope to be believed.

In normal operations, Buk missile systems would be accompanied by separate vehicles equipped with radar and control facilities able to track the transponders carried by civil airplanes.

One can therefore conclude – admittedly without incontrovertible proof – that this lack of backing equipment could have led to MH17 being accidentally shot.

Half an hour after MH17 was shot down, the Ukrainians intercepted a telephone call in which a separatist leader told a Russian intelligence officer that they had just shot down a plane.

This tragedy has shocked the world, more so the Dutch people, since 193 of their fellow citizens lost their lives on the doomed flight.

There is no doubt that Russia has been sending weapons and fighters into east Ukraine

The Economist explains that “as a share of the Netherlands’ population that is greater than America’s loss in the attacks of September 11th”.

It also reports that on July 13 – a day of national mourning in the Netherlands – “the windmills stopped turning… in a way that has betokened grief for centuries”.

These are facts and not “groundless accusations”, as the Russian Ambassador tries to make them out to be.

His country’s official stance of ignoring the reckless way in which it has behaved has become a tragedy in itself.

In his letter, the Russian Ambassador also said that many lives “could have been saved had it not been for the orchestrated armed coup that took place in Kiev earlier this year”.

I consider this a classic Freudian slip because, unwittingly, the Ambassador made the case against Russia!

Russia is a proud and great country that is intent on recovering from the humiliation it suffered in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This strengthens Russia’s determination to pursue its centuries-old policy of ensuring that its immediate neighbours remain within its sphere of influence.

Ukraine’s potential EU membership is therefore considered as challenging what Russia considers to be a ‘sacred’ policy.

The pride and the motivation are there for all to see and understand.

The lies are just a natural consequence.

micfal@maltanet.net

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