Igor Strelkov, a pro-Russian separatist commander. AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky Pro-Russian separatist leader Igor Strelkov posted a statement on Russia's largest social network that may help explain what happened to Malaysia Airlines flight 17 on Thursday morning.

The Ukrainian Crisis Media Center shared and translated a screenshot of Strelkov's comment, shown below, on Facebook.

Strelkov, also known as Girkin, posted Thursday at 9:50 a.m. EST on VKontakte, Russia's version of Facebook. Most notably, he wrote, "We have warned them — not to fly in 'our sky.'" The word Strelkov used for sky, "небо," can also mean "heavens," hinting at pro-Russian rebels' strong claim to the area.

Strelkov also referenced a shot down "AN-26," a Ukrainian military transport plane. He put that crash somewhere near a mine called "Progress," located in Torez, the same city where the Malaysia passenger plane reportedly crashed. Thus, the Crisis center noted the terrorists likely mistook flight MH 17 for the Ukrainian aircraft. Leaked audio between separatists reviewing the crash site also confirm they didn't know they hit a civilian plane.

Ukrainian officials also accused pro-Russian separatist rebels of shooting down an AN-26 on Monday. They've already done the same to multiple other planes this month.

Strelkov's statement also mentions a plane "Su," which likely refers to the Su-25 war plane shot down in Ukraine Thursday morning, in addition to flight MH 17.

Considered the leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, Strelkov runs the entire pro-Russian separatist movement in Ukraine. He's reportedly an ethnic Russian and a veteran of the Soviet and Russian armies and has ties to Russian intelligence.

