Two government jets shot down in eastern Ukraine
Two Ukrainian military fighter jets have been shot down in the east, according to the country’s Defence Ministry.
The Sukhoi-25 fighters were shot down over an area called Savur Mogila.
Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksiy Dmitrashkovsky said the planes might have been carrying two crew members each.
The Defence Ministry said the fighter planes were shot down about 20 miles south of the site of the Malaysia Airlines wreckage.
While the insurgents deny having missiles capable of hitting a jetliner at cruising altitude, rebel leader Alexander Borodai has said that separatist fighters do have Strela-10M ground-to-air missiles which are capable hitting targets up to 11,500ft.
Another rebel leader, Pavel Gubarev, said his men had retreated today from the villages of Chervona Zorya and Kozhevnya, on the Russian border, about 30 miles from the scene of the crash. He said 30 rebels had been injured.
