49 troops aboard plane shot down in Ukraine's Lugansk confirmed dead
14 June 2014, 13:49 -- The Ukrainian prosecutor's office has confirmed that 49 servicemen died when a military transport plane was shot down at Lugansk airport. 'About 01:10 local time on June 14, 2014, when landing at Lugansk airport, an Il-76 military transport plane of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was downed by a shot from an antiaircraft missile system. On board the plane, aside from nine crewmembers, were 40 servicemen. All died,' the press service of the prosecutor's office said.
The prosecutor's office launched an inquiry into the case.
Luhansk's self-defense confirmed they shot down Ukrainian strategic airlifter Ilyushin IL-76, which killed 49 Ukraine's special forces, its debris falling on the city airport territory earlier on Saturday.
'It was shot down with a missile. Supposedly, military contingent was on board the plane,' a representative of the Lugansk self-defense command staff told RIA Novosti.
The plane belonged to the Ukrainian Air Force and was shot down by an anti-aircraft gun and a heavy machine gun early Saturday morning, the country's defense ministry said earlier.
Ongoing clashes between nationalists and independence supporters in Ukraine's east and south have led to hundreds of deaths in recent months, following the overthrow of former president Viktor Yanukovych in February and Crimea's reunification with Russia in March.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned the special operation, called Kiev's actions a punitive act and urged Ukraine's authorities to immediately stop the violence.
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