49 aboard Ukrainian army plane killed
Iran Press TV
Sat Jun 14, 2014 9:46AM GMT
Forty nine Ukrainian troops have been killed as their military plane was shot down by pro-Russia forces in Ukraine's eastern city of Luhansk.
The Ukrainian General Prosecutor's office said in a statement on Saturday morning that 49 military personnel, including nine crew and 40 paratroopers, were killed in the attack.
The Il-76 transport plane was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile while it was approaching the city's airport earlier in the day, the statement added.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry spokesperson Vladislav Seleznyov said earlier that the figures were provisional.
According to the ministry, the plane was transporting rotating military personnel and had "troops, machinery, equipment and food."
The pro-Russia forces in Luhansk confirmed that they were behind the downing of the aircraft.
"It was hit with a rocket. We believe there were military troops on board," a spokesperson for the local forces told RIA Novosti.
The toll is apparently the biggest single loss of Ukrainian government, which has launched a military operation in the southeastern regions in a bid to root out the protests there.
The two mainly Russian-speaking regions have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev's operation started in mid-April.
The violence intensified after the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence from Ukraine on May 12 following referendums, in which the regions' residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Kiev. The vote was called illegal by Ukrainian authorities.
The government in Kiev says it is targeting armed protesters, but many civilians have been caught in the shelling that has been going on for days. According to the Ukrainian health ministry, at least 270 people have died in clashes between government forces and protesters in eastern regions so far.
MOS/HJL
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