KIEV (AFP) - Pro-Russian separatists on Sunday shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet over the war-torn east of the country, a military spokesman told AFP.

"In the course of an assignment to eliminate a large group of terrorists, a MiG-29 was shot down this morning in Lugansk region," military spokesman Leonid Matyukhin said.

He added that the pilot parachuted out and was rescued by Ukrainian forces.