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International
prosecutors said last month the airliner had been shot down by a
Buk missile fired from a village held by pro-Russian rebels.
Moscow denies any involvement and points the finger at the
Ukrainian army. All 298 people on board flight MH17, most of
them Dutch, were killed.
The children's bed, made by the company in St Petersburg, has
angered many Russian consumers who have vented their spleen
online complaining that it is in bad taste.
But Anton Koppel, who runs CaroBus, which makes unusual
furniture for children, shrugged off any political overtones as
he spoke next to a camouflage-colored bed crafted to look like
the Buk surface-to-air self-propelled launcher.
Retailing at 11,000 rubles ($176.78) at a shopping center in St
Petersburg, Russia's second city, the bed has a red star and
Russia's tricolor flag. But instead of "Buk" it bears the name
"Defender" - a concession to angry consumers.
"We didn't want to traumatize people, many people wrote about
this being related to the situation in the Donbass (separatist
region), to the downed plane and other horrific things, but this
is not what we think," Koppel told Reuters.
He said the bed's frame was simply a design that had proved
popular with customers.
"This is simply a military vehicle which looks really cool. But
nevertheless, we understand that people can be different, we
appreciate their interest in this. And of course, we didn't mean
to traumatize anyone and we simply renamed it Defender."
(Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov;
Editing by Jack Stubbs)
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