Moscow and Washington are locked in an information war to explain what happened to Flight MH17 and its 298 passengers following the tragic downing of the aircraft in a wheat field in eastern Ukraine last week. US intelligence officials took the unusual step on Tuesday of briefing the media about the evidence they believe ties the crash to a missile fired from territory controlled by pro-Russian militants.
It was an attempt to take control of what officials call “the narrative”, following efforts by the Russian defence ministry to discredit the US version.
“It is a classic effort to blame the victims,” a senior US intelligence official said of the Russian claims. “We are seeing a full-court press by the Russian government to instruct affiliated or friendly elements to manipulate the media environment to spread Russia’s version of the story.”