A Russian officer is claiming that prior to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, a Ukrainian military jet had been flying very close to the aircraft. The officer also denied the accusations that it was Russia that had provided the missiles that hit the plane to separatist groups in Ukraine.

Lieutenant General Andrei Kartopolov inquired as to why "the military jet was flying along at almost the same time and at the same level as the passenger plane." At its closes, Kartopolov claims that the military jet was just three to five kilometers from the Malaysia Airlines plane.

Russian officials say that they can provide proof of the military jet, with images that had been captured by the Rostov monitoring center. He also urged the United States to release its own satellite photos during the time of the crash.

Meanwhile, as more information about the passengers of the Malaysia Airlines flight come out, it has been discovered that among the 298 who lost their lives in the crash, was an actress, a former newsman from the BBC, and a novelist.

Shubashini Jeyaratnam, also known as Malaysian actress Shuba Jaya was among those who perished. The actress was on the way home from the Netherlands, where she and her Dutch husband had brought their baby girl to be introduced to her Dutch grandparents. Both her husband, and her baby daughter were with her on the flight.

Glenn Thomas, on the other hand, was a former BBC journalist, who was most recently affiliated with the World Health Organization as a media relations coordinator. He was traveling to the AIDS conference in Australia, as were many others on board the plane.

An Australian novelist by the name of Liam Davison was also a passenger on the flight, with his wife Frankie who taught literature, according to the New York Times.