The bodies of 298 passengers and crew of Malaysia Air Flight 17, 80 of them children, lie unburied in a Ukrainian field while Vladimir Putin‘s men fire their weapons into the air to keep international investigators from approaching the site. Yes, “Putin’s men.” Calling them “Russian separatists” unnecessarily dignifies them. They are supplied, armed and trained by the despot in the Kremlin.

At the very least, Putin is responsible for arming these dangerous actors. At most, it’s possible the missile wasn’t fired by Ukrainians at all, but by Russians, which would answer President Obama‘s question: “What do they have to hide?” The SA-11 is apparently a complex system requiring four well-trained weapons specialists to operate. In either case, the man with blood on his hands is Putin.