Expert Florence De Changy has made a connection between the missing MH370 and the downing of the MH17 flights. She reportedly believes that Vladimir Putin could have given the order to shoot down the latter to "cozy up" to Xi Jinping.

The Sun UK released a report on the matter, detailing what the journalist has claimed.

The publication noted that 53 Chinese citizens were killed when the MH370 flight crashed in 2014.

Changy claims in her book, "The Disappearing Act: The Impossible Case of MH370," that the U.S. Air Forces shot the plane out of the sky "to stop secret tech from getting to China." She also says a source revealed that Vladimir Putin told the Chinese President after the disappearance, "What happened is not acceptable," allegedly adding that he should "leave it to [him]."

Four months later, it is said that a twin plane was struck by a missile over Ukraine. It reportedly had the "exact same make, model, airline, and almost the same name."

The Sun UK continued that Russia was blamed for what happened with the MH17 flight. 298 people on board died, 240 of whom were Westerners.

It is also noted that the Dutch investigative journalist Bellingcat named four military men as suspects.

Meanwhile, the flight did not have Chinese nationals on board, reportedly leading to another suggestion that it "would have been a perfect target in Vladimir Putin's plan."

Florence De Changy consequently believes that the "Mafia-style" downing of the MH17 flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was a "way of Putin sending a clear message" to the United States.

Speaking to SunOnline, the author of the "Disappearing Act" explained that the "likelihood of [the] double accident is basically beyond statistics." She noted that what happened with the MH370 and MH17 flights within "four months should not be treated as just bad luck."

The publication later quoted Changy, saying, "I looked for information that could oppose this scenario or prove it wrong... and did not find any."

She then pointed out, "I noticed that Xi [Jinping] and [Vladimir] Putin were getting closer than ever during that period of time, and they happened to have been physically together in Brazil when MH17 was downed."

Following all the suggestions and assertions, though, no clear proof has come to light to support the claims. Hence, these all remain mere speculations and theories, at best.

For his part, Putin "strongly rejected" the claims, blaming Russia for what happened with MH17, according to the Associated Press News. 

As reported in 2018, the Russian leader emphasized that the country could "not trust the investigator's conclusions" as it was excluded from the probe. Nevertheless, he deemed the downing of MH17 as a "terrible tragedy."