KYIV. July 24 (Interfax) - The Sukhoi Su-25 planes in the military operation zone were shot down by someone firing from outside Ukraine, said Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council.
"Preliminary data suggest that these aircraft were shot down not by terrorists because antiaircraft systems don't fire that high. The aircraft were shot down at an altitude of 5,200 meters. This altitude for air defense systems … these are only the characteristic of powerful missile systems … Preliminary information suggest that these missiles were launched precisely from abroad," Lysenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.
An investigation is under way, the information about the crew's fate cannot be disclosed yet for the pilots' safety reasons, he said.
Earlier on Wednesday a spokesperson for the military operation said that two of the Ukrainian army's Su-25 attack aircraft were shot down near the village of Dmytrovka (Donetsk region) and the pilots ejected. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry told Interfax that the two pilots most likely landed in a militia-controlled area.
Later a spokesperson for the DPR ministry of information said the militia found the sites where the two Su-25s crashed after being shot down near Snizhne.
"Representatives from the DPR defense ministry have travelled to the crash sites of the downed planes. Photo and video evidence will be provided shortly," the spokesperson said.
Militia said one of the pilots died, the other managed to eject and hide in the woodlands. The militia are now searching for him.