Did Pro-Russian Rebels Shoot This Video of the MH17 Impact?

This video, purported to be of the moment that MH17 crashes, has been making the rounds.

On it, Russians speakers can be heard conversing about the crash.

Our man in Ukraine, Oleg Atbashian, interpreted it for us.

The title of the video is “17.7.14 Plane Crash,” so what’s the point of editing out the plane? The plane in the sky probably just wasn’t picked up by the cheap cell phone camera. The dialogue is also about the crash, in both Russian and Ukrainian. The discussion is about whether anyone had been able to jump out before the crash, and also mentioning that the debris were still falling down as they watched the smoke. Then someone else asks them what’s going on and they explain that a plane has just crashed.

The video is posted by the separatist “Novorossy” channel. “Novorossy” is how the separatists call themselves now, as opposed to “Ukrainians.”

At 0:47 they were speculating if the plane was being shot at and that someone had hit it. At that point a loud voice says, laughing, “So it was worth bringing it in,” possibly referring to the Buk anti-aircraft missile launcher that was seen around the area earlier in the morning.

Hm.