Yes it's all about oil!
If the Ukraine didn't have considerable reserves of oil/gas, would Putin be interested in their territory?
After all, if Russia, with it's very modest economy, were obliged to support it's even poorer neighbor, it would be bankrupted.
What GENUINELY opposing Governments need to do, is develop such new oil as is available; like the huge, multi-trillion barrel reserve at Edmonton!
This oil would, if developed, easily replace Russian oil sales, to all of Russia's European oil customers!
And at prices, very expensive to recover Russian oil couldn't compete with!
And if that brings a couple of entirely self serving, non patriotic oil companies undone?
Well, what could be a better reward?
Even so, a lifeline could be proffered, like Edmonton or Russia; choose now or forfeit all future non Russian opportunities!
And given we, own a similarly large hydrocarbon repository to our immediate north, we should just put all those tired old meaningless mantras to bed, and simply crack on developing this resource ourselves, using expert contracting companies, in the initial development stages.
This is exactly how big oil does it.
We who own the resource, have the freedom to please ourselves.
And as Russian oil becomes too expensive in comparison, where do you think the oil companies will go, in order to save themselves?
Russia and Russian military is almost completely dependent on oil and gas sales, for most if not all their funding; and they are anything but a united cohesive group!
Without oil revenue, many could be paid to turn on their masters, and put paid to Putin!?
And with him gone, so are all the current problems besetting Eastern Europe!
Imagine, how different history would be, and how many millions of lives could have been spared, and national treasure; if someone had had the testicular fortitude, to take out Mr Hitler, and before he annexed Austria or Czechoslovakia?
Rhrosty.

Or maybe it's all about money. Money as in the IMF and the World Bank and the threat to them posed by the recent announcement of an alternative to the current system signed in Brazil by Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa.
Without a monopoly on the world's finances, all these sanctions would lose their relevance, and where would the western banksters be then?
Europe has been dragging its feet on the sanctions the US wants to impose on Russia. What better way to bring them into line than by knocking a commercial jet liner out of the sky? Was it really a ground-to-air missile? Or could it have been an air-to-air missile, with the Ukrainian Air Force flying one of its jets right alongside?
Let's not forget in our haste to blame all this on Mr Putin that the same chorus that is leading this song also brought us the non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, deionising Saddam Hussein in the process.
With a compliant media,a gullible public and masters of disinformation playing them both like a piano, anything is possible, and much of it might not be true.
Look for sanctions to be imposed. The impoverishment of Russia is the goal, with a stop put to the financial integration of China, Russia and Europe along the New Silk Road.

There is clear and incontrovertible evidence, that a ground to air missile, fired just inside the Ukrainian/Russian border, was the evil that brought down the Malaysian airliner, full of noncombatant, murdered men, women and children.
I can't begin to imagine the horror of those last few moments, after the missile hit, dismembering many innocent men, women and children in the process.
And in those final moments, did those remaining totally terrified mothers hug their children, their husbands, and say in those few precious remaining seconds, a final, I love you!?
Or scream their final goodbyes, as the wind plucked them like straw, from the airliner!
Or just scream all the way to the ground, as the pain from torn/ripped from their bodies, limbs, started to explode on/in their persons, as unimaginable pain!?
And has any of the inventory of Ukrainian, surface to air, air to air Missiles been fired, or is missing?
No, the prerecorded inventory is intact, with the world free to count it!
Meaning, the mother murdering, baby killing missile, and the expertise that fired it, had to come from the excuse making, obfuscating evil empire, as shown in indisputable satellite footage!
If Russia's constitution hadn't been altered, with the acceptance of the majority of Russians!
Then a soulless Mr Putin wouldn't be ruling, or indeed, imposing his belligerency on Russian Gays, or Russian speaking, non consenting, pro Ukrainian separatist majority, residing in, the so-called disputed territory!
Or indeed, a formerly free press, many of who, have been disappeared or routinely murdered, and just for exposing the literal facts!.
And then we also have to tolerate excuse making apologists, posting their unique brand of blase BS on this site!
I'm so infuriated, I'm almost ready to throw up!
Rhrosty.

Just one more reason why the west needs to unhook itself from the carbon economy. The Europeans will not take any serious action because they are too dependent on Russian fossil fuels.

Or maybe it's all about power: as shown in the last paragraphs of this article from the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/23/mh17-dutch-mayor-vladimir-putin-daughter-deport

Of course Freud would say that if it's about power, then it's about sex. With Russia's birth-rate and life-expectancy declining, Russians are probably hoping that's true.

Joe

The investment newsletters that hit my email desk every day are full of bullish bargain hunting tips to start buying up shares in the Russian stock exchange and energy sector. So I wouldn't be too concerned about Russia's energy blues just yet, especially with such powerful global energy players worried about their bottom line. These guys are powerful enough to eat Washington for breakfast.

Rhrosty

Please spare us the cheap theatrics!

And your gullible regurgitation of the usual dodgy 'incontrovertible evidence'. The US-led Western propaganda machine has a track record of doing to 'incontrovertible evidence' what Pussy Riot does to chickens.