Malaysian passenger plane crashes in Ukraine near Russian border

MOSCOW (Xinhua) - A Malaysian flight with 280 passengers and 15 crew members on board crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

"A Malaysia Airlines 777, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, started descending 50 kilometers before entering Russian airspace, and was subsequently found burning on the ground in Ukrainian territory," Interfax quoted an aviation source as saying.

The plane disappeared from radar at 10,000 meters and then crashed near the city of Shakhtarsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region, the news agency reported, citing Ukrainian law enforcement authorities.

A group of emergencies service is on the way to the scene.

According to the Interfax, an advisor to Ukrainian Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko wrote on his Facebook that "280 passengers and 15 crew members have been killed."

There are also reports saying the plane was shot down by the eastern Ukrainian militias, which was immediately denied by the leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, as the Interfax reported.