Accidental Firing May Have Downed Russian Plane

Oct. 5 -- A Russian passenger plane bound from Tel Aviv to Siberia may have been accidentally shot down by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile fired during a military exercise, U.S. officials told ABCNEWS.

The Ukrainian government initially ruled out the possibility that its military had a role in the downing of the airliner.

Neither the direction nor the range [of the missiles] correspond to the practical or theoretical point at which the plane exploded," Defense Ministry spokesman Konstantin Khivrenko told Reuters. "So the Ukrainian military has no involvement, either practical or theoretical, in this accident."

But Reuters reported today that Ukrainian Prime Minister AnatolyKinakh was quoted by Interfax-Ukraine news agency assaying the notion that the aircraft was accidently downed during a military exercise had "a right to exist," although it was too early to draw conclusions.

Visiting Relatives for Jewish Holiday

Siberian Airlines Flight SB 1812 left Tel Aviv for the Siberian city of Novosibirsk Thursday morning and was about two hours into its journey when it plunged into the Black Sea, about 114 miles off the Russian coastal city of Adler and about 110 miles southwest of the Russian city of Sochi.

There were 78 people on board, some of them recent Russian immigrants to Israel who were going to visit relatives during a Jewish holiday.

A U.S. official said a "no-fly" area had been established for the Ukrainian military exercises but it may not have been large enough to cover the area where the airliner went down.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said it was too soon to say what the cause was, but that the United States had no indications that terrorism was involved.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he doubts a Ukrainian missile would have had the range to have hit the plane. He said the Russian military observed the exercises on the spot and that "we have no grounds not to trust them and the Ukrainian military."

Putin also said a "terrorist act" could be responsible for the crash.