You're reading: Separatists claim to have shot down two Ukrainian planes near Russian border

Two Ukrainian Air Force aircraft were shot down in the east of the Donetsk region on July 17 evening, said Ihor Druz, an advisor to the defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

“The Antonov An-26 transport aircraft was shot down above the city. It fell near the Progress coal mine, near a waste pile. Residential buildings were not damaged. A group of militia scouts are working at the crash site,” Druz told Interfax.

A Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft was shot down near the Russian border later, the defense minister’s advisor said.

“It was hit from a portable antiaircraft missile system. Efforts are under way to locate the crash site,” Druz said.