Russia risks burning bridges with the West over the deadly Malaysian plane crash in Ukraine, as analysts warn that President Vladimir Putin might never accept responsibility for the disaster. Observers said Thursday’s shooting down of a Boeing 777 with 298 people on board over Ukrainian territory held by pro-Kremlin rebels would have unpredictable political and economic consequences for Russia. “We are witnessing a tectonic clash between Russia and the West,” Yuly Nisnevich of the Moscow-based Higher School of Economics told AFP. “Russia’s isolation will very much deepen.”
