Ukraine's military troops captured two towns held by pro-Russian separatists near the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash site as the fighting between the two sides heated up.

Government forces of Ukraine are also attempting to take another village in Kiev near the site where the ground-to-air missile was launched, hitting the Malaysian passenger jet and killing all 298 people on board. On Monday, a Ukrainian official said analysis of the plane's black box showed a shrapnel from a missile hit the aircraft and caused it to explode, Reuters relayed.

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Based on a UN report, over 1,100 people died within the three months of battle between Ukraine and pro-Moscow rebels. According to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, the intensifying conflict in Donetsk and Luhansk was very alarming and the shoot down of Flight MH17 on July 17 may be considered a war crime.

The Ukrainian rebels most probably hit the Malaysian jet by mistake, Western leaders said. Russia blames Kiev for the incident.

As of now, the separatists still control the crash site but the violence around the area became more intense as government forces attempt to force them out of the place. On Monday, three civilians reportedly died in an encounter and Kiev troops took Savur and Mogila, an elevated area located 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the MH17 crash site.

Andriy Lysenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Security Council, said government troops are trying to close in on the plane's crash site and drive out the rebels. They are also preparing to launch an offensive on Gorlovka, an area in Donetsk used by the rebels as stronghold.

Since the separatists started fighting the Ukrainian troops, the city of Donetsk, previously occupied by almost a million people, became mostly like a ghost town.

More than ten days since the plane crashed, the area of where the Malaysian jet went down is still not secure. Investigators are still unable to survey the area thoroughly even though rebels already shipped the human bodies out and surrendered the flight recorders to Malaysian authorities.

According to the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), investigators from the Netherlands and Australia were unable to reach the site of the crash because of security issues.

Andrew Colvin, Australia's Deputy Commissioner of National Security, worried that they could lose evidence if the fighting went on. He also said their chances of locating the remains of the passenger decreased as the clock ticked on.