While international investigators attempt to comb over the entire crash site, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal says Russian President Vladimir Putin is to blame for the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines passenger plane over Ukraine Thursday.
All 298 people on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 were killed when it was shot out of the sky by a missile over separatist controlled territory. Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, says Vladimir Putin has blood on his hands for supporting and arming the separatist forces.
“Putin is a thug and the only thing he understands is force,” Blumenthal said Monday afternoon. “Economic force as well as political and military force. We should heighten the economic force through strong, stiffer sanctions enlisting the Europeans.”
Blumenthal says Putin should pay compensation to the victims’ families, while the Obama administration should increase non-military aid to Ukraine.
