In breaking news, a Malaysian Airlines flight with 280 passengers and 15 crew on board has crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border. At least one unofficial report from a source in the Ukrainian government via Russian media suggests the plane was shot down, but there’s no real confirmation of that scary scenario.

The flight was en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, and was last heard from over Ukrainian airspace.

Thoughts and prayers for the passengers. Let’s hope the initial reports are wrong.

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.