Ukraine says 2 of its military jets were shot down

Two of Ukraine's military fighter jets were shot down in east Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

The Associated Press reports that two Sukhoi-25 fighter jets were shot down at 1:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The shooting happened above the Savur Mogila area, a part of the Shaktersky region near the Russian border.

USA Today reports that Ukraine's Defense Ministry said the jets were two of four Russian-built fighters that were "returning to base after providing air support for Ukrainian troops near the border."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Oleksiy Dmitrashovsky, a Defense Ministry spokesperson, told the AP that each plane may have carried up to two crew members. The AP has not yet announced whether the crew members have survived.

The announcement comes as U.K. investigators begin analysis of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17's black boxes. The fighter jets were shot down less than a week after that flight, a passenger jet, was shot down in the same region.