You’d think in the digital age that no country would dare Photoshop satellite images and then use those images to blame a different country for shooting down a plane that resulted in all 298 passengers being killed. Yet that’s exactly what Russia did to point the finger of blame at Ukraine for downing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, according to forensic analysis of publicly available satellite images.

On July 17, 2014, MH17, a Boeing 777, was shot down over eastern Ukraine; days later, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) held a press conference, blaming Ukraine for shooting down MH17 and releasing six satellite images as proof.

Bellingcat, a group of independent journalists, launched an investigation; on May 31 the group reported that the Russian’s claims “are a clear attempt by the Russian government to deceive the public, global community, and the families of the Flight MH17 victims.” Bellingcat released a report covering forensic analysis of satellite images (pdf). The group analyzed public images available through Google Earth before concluding:

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