2 Ukrainian jets downed as bodies from MH17 are flown back to the Netherlands

Two Ukrainian fighter jets were shot down as the remains of victims from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 began to be flown back to the Netherlands.

The New York Times reports that the jets were shot down near the village of Dmytrivka. Their downing was part of a broader military push to dislodge local pro-Russian separatists. The Ukrainian military says that as a part of this push they have recaptured the municipalities of Severodonetsk and Popasna, located in the province of Luhansk.

The Times also reported fighting on the Ukrainian and Russian border. Control of the border is essential for the government in Kiev if it wishes to consolidate its control in the east of Ukraine and weaken the separatists. For now, the lack of Ukrainian dominance at the border is allowing fighters, supplies, and weapons from Russia to replenish the pro-Russian separatists.

In the city of Khakiv, which just recently came under the control of the Ukrainian military, a Dutch Air Force transport plane was loaded with the first batch of dead from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

The Ukrainian military provided an honor guard for a ceremony that paid tribute to the loss of life, according to the Times. The ceremony was also taken as an opportunity to pledge that justice will be served to those who destroyed the commercial jetliner. Officials from both Australia and the Ukraine promised to deliver the guilty to justice. Although they promised justice, they stopped shy of directly accusing any particular group or actor in the region.

The Times says the flight's recording devices have been delivered to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the British Department for Transportation.

Another plane from Australia is expected to arrive in Kharkiv July 23. It will also transport the dead to the Netherlands. Nearly 30 Australians were killed when MH17 was shot down as it transited Ukrainian airspace on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.