If perception is reality, then the Russian population would assume that the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 was the work of the Ukrainians —with the help of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency , or vice versa.

Just one day after the horrific tragedy that left 298 people dead, Russia's Channel One ran a package telling its audience that the entire incident was orchestrated by the United States, specifically by the CIA.

A document purportedly showing that the U.S. was planning to do the same thing during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was showing in a full-screen graphic.

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Viewers then learned that the "U.S. orchestrated this because Ukrainian government is not sophisticated enough to orchestrate this," according to the broadcast, which was translated from the original Russian by CNBC.