In case of MH17, it is not unlikely that the left engine suffered an uncontained engine failure, given that the forward ring of the intake was found at the cockpit crash site. It is possible that it ingested some radome parts or worse that could have destroyed the fan disc. It would have lost thrust altogether while the right engine would still function. Without countersteering from the cockpit the plane would enter a spin.
The left engine ingested broken fan blades....some of which were found at the scene (first village) where the forward ring was also found, as well as further back sections of cowling. Cockpit was at second village. This indeed did cause a turn of about 90 degrees and clearly some sort of flat spin so that bodies would start falling out.