Rebels Shoot Down Ukraine Helicopter
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Rebel fighters have shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter carrying technicians who had been installing equipment to monitor a peace plan in Ukraine's east, killing all nine people on board.
The incident took place just hours after pro-Russian separatists announced a ceasefire until June 27 to match a week-long truce by government forces which has been ordered by Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko.
The technicians had been returning from setting up specialised equipment on Tuesday when their Mi-8 helicopter was struck by a rebel missile near Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine, said Vladyslav Seleznyov, a government forces spokesman.
"There were nine people on board. According to preliminary information ... all those on board were killed," Seleznyov said. "The fighters, having fired the rocket, hid in the nearby village of Bylbasovka."
Dmytro Tymchuk, a military analyst with sources in the armed forces, said the helicopter had been brought down by a missile fired from a shoulder-held launcher.
Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan, reporting from Donetsk, said while the ceasefire remained in name, but it was not being properly observed on the ground.
"If there's nobody independent who can actually monitor the ceasefire that's taking place ... it's very difficult to have a ceasefire that actually means anything," he said.
Elsewhere, a rebel spokesman in Donetsk said a gun battle broke out near the city's airport, which is under Ukrainian control.
Rebels opened fire on two Ukrainian armoured personnel carriers leaving the airport, according to a witness.
Earlier Poroshenko had said the separatists had violated their ceasefire with overnight attacks on military posts and checkpoints which killed one soldier and wounded seven others.