Professor George Liber's expertise in Soviet, post-Soviet, and East European history has been in demand by local news media ever since the crisis in Ukraine began in February 2014. Recently he gave his thoughts on the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down over contested Ukrainian territory on July 17.

Liber says he believes separatists are the ones who shot down the plane, and that the Russian government is giving them money, arms, and intelligece. The separatists are not citizens of Ukraine, according to Liber, but are Russians who have worked either for the Russian intelligence services or the Russian military in the past. See the interview here.