TEMPO.CO, Slovyansk - Gunfire and explosions were heard earlier today around Slovyansk, a city in the eastern part of Ukraine that has become the focus of an armed pro-Russian insurgency. The insurgent's leaders claimed that government troops had launched a military assault in an attempt to retake control.
Associated Press reported that Vyacheslav Ponomarev, an insurgent-appointed mayor of Slovyansk, said that self-defense forces had shot down two Ukrainian choppers, killing one pilot and capturing the other. The statement was later confirmed by the Ukrainian interior minister Arsen Avakov. Avakov also said that the government troops had met fierce resistance from the armed pro-Russia forces. Regardless, the troops had managed to take control of nine checkpoints on roads around Slovyansk.
Black plumes of smokes can be seen in the suburban part of Slovyansk, a city 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Russia. Other reports also stated that pro-Russia gunmen in the city have held seven European military observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
ANINGTIAS JATMIKA | AP
