Breaking News: Malaysia Airlines Plane 'Shot Down by Russians' Killing 295 People

Image courtesy of www.express.co.uk

Source: www.express.co.uk

The Boeing 777 went down near the Russian border after a surface to air missile allegedly hit it.

Flight MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was downed, according to the Interfax News Agency.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, posted on Facebook today that everyone onboard MH17 died in the crash.

He wrote: "A civilian airliner travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has just been shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft system.

"280 passengers and 15 crew have been killed."

The news agency claimed that the Malaysian Airlines passenger plane was shot down by Russian authorities but that has yet to be confirmed.

A Malaysia Airlines official has confirmed the plane has crashed and they are due to make a statement shortly.

The company also tweeted to say that they lost contact with MH17 after it took off from Amsterdam and its last known location was over Ukrainian airspace.

They posted on Twitter: "Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow."

Russian state media reported that the country's defence ministry had labelled accusations they shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 as "absurd".

Russia angrily denied reports it was to blame for the attack on a Ukrainian airforce SU-25 earlier today, which happened just miles from the latest air disaster.

The pilot of the downed fighter jet ejected and was later evacuated by Ukrainian forces, said Kiev sources.

"A military plane from the air force of the Russian Federation carried out a rocket strike on a Ukrainian air force SU-25 as it fulfilled its task over the territory of Ukraine," said Kiev's National Security and Defence Council .

But the Kremlin issued denials, although there are questions as to why commercial jets were still flying in an area of intense fighting between Russia over disputed Ukrainian territory.

The news comes after a Malaysian Airlines plane carrying 239 people went missing in March while on a flight from the Malaysian capital to Beijing.

The country's government said they believed all people onboard MH370 were dead after a lengthy search in the Indian Ocean.

The plane, which had 227 passengers onboard, vanished on March 8 and despite a search costing in excess of £25million no trace of the airline has been found.