As the world is struggling to come to terms with the tragic events that transpired when Malaysian Airline flight MH17 was shot down in Ukraine, a controversial Nigerian pastor has released a video claiming he had predicted the event several months earlier.

T.B. Joshua, who made headlines several months ago for his purported prediction about the Malaysian airlines MH370 disappearance, allegedly warned Russian president Vladimir Putin back in February 2014 to ‘take care of his airspace’, citing an ‘attack in the form of an aircraft crash’.

A Malaysian airliner was shot down over eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian militants lastThursday, killing all 295 people aboard, a Ukrainian interior ministry official said.

Raising the stakes in the East-West showdown between Kiev and Moscow, the official blamed "terrorists" using a ground-to-air missile and Ukraine's prime minister called the downing of the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur a "catastrophe".

A Reuters correspondent saw burning wreckage and bodies on the ground at the village of Grabovo, about 40 km (25 miles) from the Russian border in an area where pro-Russian rebels have been active and have claimed to have shot down other aircraft.

“I was telling you about Russia,” the video claims Joshua said on Sunday February 16^th 2014.  “Because when I was saying I want to see where this attack is coming from – airspace. It could be in the form of aircraft crash or whatever.”

The cleric, whose MH370 prophecy has been viewed almost 1,000,000 times on YouTube, stated he was praying for Russia, adding that the ‘attack’ in question would connect Russia with disrepute.

The clip then shows the ‘prophet’ re-emphasising his words later during the church service, aired on his Christian television network Emmanuel TV: “They (Russia) should take care of the airspace. I am seeing an attack but we will continue to pray.”

Joshua, who is the head of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) has a large online following with 1.1 million followers on Facebook and 80,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel.

Last week, his Christian event at the Pascal Guerrero Olympic Stadium in Colombia allegedly attracted 100,000 attendees.  He is touted to be among Africa’s 50 most influential people.