Separatists down Ukraine military plane, several dead, says govt

Armed pro-Russian separatists stand at a town center in Snizhnye in eastern Ukraine on June 12, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Armed pro-Russian separatists stand at a town center in Snizhnye in eastern Ukraine on June 12, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

KIEV (AFP) - Pro-Russian separatists shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane at the eastern town of Lugansk, killing several people, the defence ministry said Saturday.

"The terrorists cynically and treacherously fired with a large-calibre machinegun hitting an Ilyushin-76 of the Ukrainian air force which was carrying troops on rotation and was about to land at Lugansk airport," the ministry said in a statement.

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