DHAKA: Pro-Russian rebels on Wednesday shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets in the insurgent-held area where Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed.

The Ukrainian military said, reports The Straits Times.

‘Terrorists have shot down two Ukrainian Su-25 jets,’ the press office for Kiev’s military campaign against the insurgents said in a statement.

The planes were hit by missiles fired by rebels close to the village of Dmytrivka, some 45 kilometres south-east of the MH17 crash site towards the Russian border, as they were providing air support for government infantry, the statement said.

The pilots from both jets managed to parachute out, it said, giving no further details about their condition.

A spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic told media its fighters had shot down the two aircraft.

BDST: 2125 HRS, JUL 23, 2014