Ukraine military plane shot down in Luhansk

Pro-Russia forces in Ukraine have shot down a military plane in the eastern city of Luhansk, the country’s Defense Ministry has confirmed.

Ukraine’s military sources said the Il-76 transport plane was downed by pro-Russia self-defense forces on Saturday while approaching the city’s airport. About 50 passengers are thought to have been on board.

The ministry said several paratroops and crew had died in the attack but did not give an exact figure. Some reports, however, say as many as 30 have been killed in the incident.

The ministry said in a statement that the plane was transporting rotating military personnel and had “troops, machinery, equipment and food.”

Meanwhile, in Donetsk region, the Ukrainian army conducted an operation in the city of Mariupol, inflicting heavy losses on the bases of pro-Russian forces and arrested at least 30 of them.

Shooting also resumed in Slavyansk and Kramatorsk late on Friday as the Ukrainian military continued its crackdown on the pro-Russian forces in the east.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking parts in the south and the east have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in the southeastern regions in mid-April in a bid to root out the protests there.

The violence intensified after the Donetsk and Lugansk 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 former Soviet Union republic has been gripped by deadly unrest since the ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovych in February.