SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Ukraine appeared to concede for the first time on Friday that its military might have accidentally shot down a Russian airliner over the Black Sea, where rough conditions were hampering salvage operations.As darkness fell, trawlers and other vessels were combing the seas with nets for debris to try to unravel the mystery mid-air explosion of a Sibir airlines jet on Thursday which killed up to 78 people traveling from Israel to Siberia.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh was quoted by Interfax-Ukraine news agency as saying the theory that a missile may have downed the plane ``had a right to exist.''
Asked to clarify the news report, Kinakh's spokesman said: ''The prime minister said there were several theories and they all have a right to exist and it's too early to draw any conclusions because an investigation is under way.''
It was the first statement by a senior Ukrainian official allowing the possibility that military exercises with long-range surface-to-air missiles on the southern Crimean Black Sea peninsula might have caused the crash.
Ukraine had previously denied any role in the disaster, saying the Tupolev Tu-154 was out of range of the missiles.
U.S. officials have said all indications point to the plane having been shot down. They said a spy satellite had detected a missile's rocket plume.
Washington said on Friday there was no reason to believe the disaster was an act of terrorism, one of the first theories put forward to explain the disaster.
The mid-air explosion triggered fears of sabotage following the September 11 attacks in the United States, when hijacked airliners flew into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, leaving 6,000 people dead or missing.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov appealed to the United States to make available any evidence of a missile strike -- a move which could lead to tension between Kiev and its former colonial master in Moscow.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Ukraine appeared to acknowledge for the first time on October 5, 2001 the possibility that its armed forces may have accidentally shot down a Russian airliner over the Black Sea, where rough conditions were hampering salvage operations. (Reuters Graphic)