UPDATE: Pro-Russian rebels shoot down two Ukrainian fighter jets

Pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets in eastern Ukraine just days after the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said.

Spokesperson Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky said the planes were brought down 25 kilometres from the crash site of MH17.

"Two Sukhoi Ukrainian fighter jets have been shot down. The fate of the pilots is not known," Mr Dmytrashkivsky said.

But a second military spokesman said the jets had been downed at a different location by rockets fired by insurgents. The two pilots managed to parachute out.

"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," according to spokesperson Vladislav Seleznev.