The Malaysian Airlines planes crash was not an accident. It has already been confirmed that it was shot down by surface-to-air missiles. This development has brought about multiple conspiracy theories on the purpose of shooting down a passenger plane.

One tragic theory is that it was a case of mistaken identity. An assassination attempt directed towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Daily Mail reported that this theory was sparked by the Russians themselves, and was subsequently dismissed as propaganda:

"Russia Today sparked a fever of speculation last night after publishing a report that claimed the doomed flight was flying almost the exact same path as Putin's presidential plane did less than 40 minutes later.

It quoted a source as telling Interfax news agency: 'I can say that Putin's plane and the Malaysian Boeing intersected at the same point and the same echelon. That was close to Warsaw on 330-m echelon at the height of 10,100 meters. The presidential jet was there at 16:21 Moscow time and the Malaysian aircraft-15:44 Moscow time.'"

The idea that the Russian presidential plane was also airborne during the crash may have triggered a case of mistaken identity.

The Daily Mail showed photos (from Reuters) of the two planes and how they can be mistook for each other.

Malaysian Airlines: 

Russian Presidential Plane: 

The argument is that the red and blue markings might be indistinguishable from the ground.

Some users also commented their own theory. Diversionary tactics are common strategy by politicians in a country, but the accusation that the United States is controlling world events triggered the suspicion that this is a plot to divert attention from the growing outrage towards the attacks on Gaza.

Daily Mail bared the comments: 

"'Benji', from London wrote: 'Did Israel have something to do with it? It's incredibly convenient for the government of Israel that the day before they launch their ground attack on Gaza. World attention and media coverage has been diverted from that to this MH17 incident. Could Israel be behind it so they can launch their attack on Palestine, and the inevitable deaths of hundreds of civilians that is likely to come with it, without international media and governmental scrutiny??

Benji didn't stand alone in his analysis today. Max Weedon added on Twitter: 'Missile downs flight #MH17 over Ukraine; Israel begins ground offensive against Hamas. Are the two linked?'"

As of now, these are all theories and there is no way to verify them.