TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Pro-Russian separatists have shot down a large military transport plane in Ukraine's east, with 49 people on board reported to have been killed in a major blow for the Kiev government's efforts to put down the insurgency, as reported by The Guardian.
Ukraine's defence ministry said the plane was downed as it approached an airport at Luhansk. The Il-76 transport plane had been carrying service members as well as equipment and food. A military spokesman, Vladislav Seleznyov, told the Reuters news agency that 49 people died.
The toll would be the biggest suffered by government forces in a single incident since Kiev started a military operation to try to defeat the insurgency in east Ukraine.
A defence ministry statement said the rebels "cynically and perfidiously" shot down the plane using anti-aircraft guns and heavy calibre machine guns.
An Il-76 is a four-engined jet that can be used to transport heavy gear and people. Luhansk, in Ukraine's east near its border with Russia, is an area where separatists have seized government buildings and declared independence after holding disputed referendums.
THE GUARDIAN
