There were several pictures at the time showing Putin and his...

There were several pictures at the time showing Putin and his cronies salivating over the photo shop image as being their proof. Silly stuff vlad. The altitude of the corridor was deemed to be out of harms way by many airlines, it also saved them fuel costs on certain routes. There wasnt a perceived threat from the ground due to the altitude, sadly Russia's buk changed that with its ability for high altitude attack, and being commanded by trigger happy Russians.