These systems are used by both Ukraine and the separatists, meaning that some of the systems in the the separatist armaments could be captured (“trophies”) from the Ukrainian military. However, that said, there have been on confirmed cases of a Strela-10 from the Ukrainian military falling into the hands of the separatists. On July 21, 2014, Prime Minister of the DNR Aleksandr Borodai claimed to have captured a Strela-10 from the Ukrainian military, but there was no evidence provided on this. The pro-separatist databae LostArmour keeps meticulous records on what equipment has been captured from the Ukrainian military, and lists no cases of this taking place with the Strela-10.

The Strela-10 can fire at targets that have an altitude of up to to 5,000 meters (though conflicting sources give 3500 meters)— not near the height necessary to threaten passenger planes for high-elevation military cargo planes. On July 16, 2014, the day before the downing of MH17, a Strela-10 was seen in a field just a few kilometers from the eventual launch site of a Buk missile. With the Strela-10 were Igor “Strelkov” Girkin and Aleksandr Borodai.

Separatist fighters near Stepanivka, Ukraine, just a few kilometers from the eventual MH17 launch site. A Strela-10 can be seen in the background.

Last year, members of the Ukrainian volunteer group Dnipro-1 Battalion shared a video taken with a surveillance drone they deployed. This footage showed that separatist forces deployed a Strela-10 system just five kilometers from the withdrawal lines — in violation of the Minsk II accords.