Members of the Ukrainian Emergency Ministry carry a body at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 ― International headlines blaming Moscow for the shootdown of Flight MH17 have not diminished president Vladimir Putin in the eyes of ordinary Russians, as state-owned media have kept them believing that Kremlin has been made a scapegoat in the tragedy.

According to a report on the Wall Street Journal, some even believe the tragedy was partly engineered by the United States government in an bid to further demonise the Russian government in the ongoing crisis involving Ukraine.

The report was backed by interviews with the man-on-the-street in Russia. Locals were quick to finger Ukraine for downing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) commercial jet last Thursday.

“It was the Ukrainians who did it — them and their army,” Inzilya Sarbayeva, a 22-year-old told the international newspaper.

Xephora Sarah Azzahra looks at an undated picture of her grandmother Puan Sri Siti Amirah (centre), who was killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine, in Putrajaya July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic The remains of a pet cage found at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is pictured near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic A woman displays a message for families and victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which was downed last Thursday over eastern Ukraine, inside a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya near Kuala Lumpur July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic Former housemate and fellow university student Khairil Ighwan, 21, attends a special prayer for his friend Mohammed Afif Tambi, who was killed with his family when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, in Kuala Lumpur July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic Student Nadine Nasharuddin, 19, holds a picture of her friend and fellow student Mohammed Afif Tambi, who was killed with his family when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, in Kuala Lumpur July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic Lecturer Normah Sulaiman speaks to members of the media after a special prayer for her student Mohammed Afif Tambi, who was killed with his family when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, in Kuala Lumpur July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic Relatives of the three Filipino victims onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 speak to the media after applying for passports to travel to the Netherlands at the Foreign Affairs Department in Manila July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic A Ukrainian coal miner takes part in a search operation at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Rozspyne, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic Ukrainian coal miners search the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. U.S. — Reuters pic A crane moves wreckage at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic Members of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry, medical personnel and a crane operator work at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic A part of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is pictured at its crash site, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Belongings found at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 are pictured near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Members of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry work at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Delegates observe a minute's silence during the opening session, as a tribute to colleagues killed in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, at the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic A member of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry walks past wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, in the Donetsk region July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic A part of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is seen at its crash site, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Ukrainian coal miners search the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Mementos placed by local residents at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 are pictured near the settlement of Rozspyne in the Donetsk region July 19, 2014. ― Reuters pic Previous Next

Anna Germak, her co-worker in a lingerie shop in Moscow, agreed.

“It has to be them. They just keep asking for trouble and for war, and they blame Russia for everything,” Germak was quoted saying.

Another woman approached by the WSJ said the same.

Viktoria, who was on the way to a wedding yesterday afternoon, said: “I think Ukraine is responsible. It's their ridiculous nation”.

A 30-year-old man who identified himself as Sergei told the WSJ that America could have had a hand in the tragedy.

“This was definitely a provocation and America is to blame,” he was quoted saying when approached at the subway.

His girlfriend, apparently in agreement, said: “Whatever America gets involved in, it messes it up”.

The WSJ said the loyalty to Putin was because of the effectiveness of the Kremlin television programming on Russians, who the paper said “seem to believe a lot of what they are told”.

The US and Europe should take this into cognisance, the renowned international paper advised, when heap blame on the popular leader for failing to own up to MH17's downing.

Flight MH17, a commercial Malaysia Airlines (MAS) jet carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was taken down last Thursday by what is believed to be a surface-to-air missile allegedly fired by pro-Russia separatists in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine and Western nations have so far been adamant in insisting that it was these pro-Russia rebels who had fired the missile, said to be from the vehicle-mounted Buk missile system that is now believed to be back across Ukraine's borders in Russia.

Intercepted conversations allegedly among separatist leaders have indicated that the aircraft was taken down by the Buk by mistake.

But the Kremlin has denied Russia's involvement, however, blaming Ukraine instead, and has continued to refuse to distance itself from its support of the rebels in Ukraine.

State-owned media has been expounding on Kremlin's apparent innocence in the tragedy via news reports alleging Ukrainian violence on its own turf, the WSJ pointed out.

“State television has carried steady footage of civilian carnage in Ukraine, almost always blaming it on the Ukrainian government, with a few stories straining the credibility of the networks,” the paper wrote.

“After the fall of the rebel stronghold of Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine on July 5, state-run television aired an interview with a woman who said that Ukrainian government forces crucified a 3-year-old boy and then dragged his mother behind an armoured vehicle until she died.

“Although she said much of the city was forced to watch, No one corroborated the account, and the state channel ignored calls for a retraction,” the newspaper reported.

WSJ added that Russians have also been treated to a “parade of conspiracy theories” on state-owned television channels, about the alleged complicity of the US and Europe in supposedly “sowing chaos” in Ukraine to undermine Russia.

“The Kremlin's English-language channel, RT, aired a segment earlier this month declaring that the US engineered genocide in Rwanda in 1994, and was now doing the same in Ukraine to foster its interests,” the paper pointed out.

But with more fingers pointed at Russia for the MH17 tragedy, Putin has now offered Moscow's full cooperation to those seeking full access to the crash site now controlled by rebels.

According to an AFP report, Putin promised Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte “full cooperation” in the retrieving of bodies and MH17's black boxes.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has also appeared more assured of Russia's willingness to cooperate this time, saying that the leader had said “all the right things”.

Nationals of both countries were aboard the ill-fated MAS jetliner, which crashed last Thursday in a disaster that shocked the world over.