Speculation that a rogue Ukrainian missile downed a Russian airliner over the Black Sea intensified yesterday after investigators said they had found fragments similar to rocket components in the wreckage.
Russian experts also said a radio locating station had picked up an unidentified object flying towards the airliner before it exploded and crashed on October 4th with the loss of all 78 passengers and crew.
"A great number of metallic parts were found, which are very similar to parts of the S200 rocket," said Mr Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, a member of the investigating commission.
The plane, a Sibir airline Tu-154 flying to Siberia from Israel, exploded as Ukraine's military was carrying out missile exercises on the Crimea peninsula, using S200 and other rockets.
President Putin vowed again to get to the bottom of the incident, which threatens to sour Russia's relations with Ukraine. Salvage ships have trawled rough waters for days to retrieve fragments and bodies. Only 15 bodies have been found and the flight recorders remain missing. The plane crashed in waters more than 1,000 metres deep.
