UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESMEN have claimed that two Ukrainian military jets were shot down over the rebel-held east of the country today.

According to AFP, Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksiy Dmitrashkovsky issued this statement:

Two Sukhoi Ukrainian fighter jets have been shot down. The fate of the pilots are not known.

He claimed the planes had been brought down 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the crash site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17.

However, a second military spokesman, Vladislav Seleznev, said the jets had been downed at a different location with rockets fired by pro-Russian, separatist insurgents.

Today in the south of the Lugansk region close to the village of Dmytrivka, pro-Russian fighters shot two Su-25 jets from a missile system.

The pilots took evasive action…but the planes were hit.

An earlier AP report said the jets had been shot down at around 1:30 pm local time (11.30 am Irish time) over an area called Savur Mogila.

The planes may have been carrying as many as two crew members each.

A separatist commander calling himself “Corsar” appeared to boast about bringing down the jets this afternoon, speaking to the BBC’s Natalia Anteleva.