8/12/2019 Ukraine Separatists Shoot Down Military Plane, 49 Dead

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Ukraine separatists shoot down

military plane, 49 dead1 OF 2. An armed pro-Russian separatist stands guard at the site of the crash of the Il-76 Ukrainianarmy transport plane in Luhansk June 14 !"14

BY PAVEL POLITYUK AND ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC

Sat Jun 14, 2014 

(Reuters) - Pro-Russian separatists shot down an army transport plane in east Ukraine on

Saturday, killing 49 servicemen and dealing a low to a military campaign to de!eat the reels

and hold the country together"

President Petro Poroshenko promised an #ade$uate# response a!ter the plane was hit y an anti-

aircra!t missile as it came in to land at the airport outside the city o! %uhansk, a centre o! the

reellion against central rule that egan in &pril"2 OF 2. Pro-Russian separatists gather ammunition at the site o! the crash o! the 'l- Ukrainian army transport

 plane in %uhansk, *une +4, +4"

#&ll those involved in cynical acts o! terrorism o!

this magnitude must e punished,# he said, declaring Sunday a day o! mourning !or the nine

crew and 4 paratroopers killed"

.e later consulted with his security and de!ence chie!s ut gave no details o! how they would

retaliate"

/harred deris was scattered !or hundreds o! metres over the sloping wheat !ield where the

8/12/2019 Ukraine Separatists Shoot Down Military Plane, 49 Dead

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 plane came down overnight near 0ovohannivka, a village km (+ miles) southeast o!%uhansk"

1he tail section 2utted up !rom the ground, with parts o! the engines, !uselage and other parts

lying around it"

& platoon o! reel !orces clad in camou!lage !atigues scoured through the ruins !or ammunition

that had een intended !or the government !orces in east Ukraine"

#1his is how we work" 1he !ascists can ring as many rein!orcements as they want ut we willdo this every time" 3e will talk to them on our own terms,# said a stocky -year-old reel who

identi!ied himsel! as Pyotr, his 5nom de guerre5"

.e had an assault ri!le in one hand, a light machine gun in the other and two ammunition elts

round his neck"

160S'70S 3'1. 1.6 36S1

1he death toll was the highest su!!ered in a single incident y government !orces since the

crisis !lared in 8eruary and is likely to !uel tension etween Russia and iev5s main ally, the

United States, which accuses :oscow o! arming the reels"

6vidence that Russia is sending in heavy armour and weapons could encourage the United

States and the 6U to impose new sanctions on :oscow, so !ar limited largely to visa ans andasset !ree;es on some individuals, anks and companies"

#3e condemn the shooting down o! the Ukrainian military plane and continue to e deeply

concerned aout the situation in eastern Ukraine, including y the !act that militant and

separatist groups have received heavy weapons !rom Russia, including tanks, which is a

signi!icant escalation,# a 3hite .ouse spokeswoman said"

&lthough Russian President <ladimir Putin denies :oscow is ehind the uprising, =erman

/hancellor &ngela :erkel and 8rench President 8rancois .ollande e>pressed their dismay over

the attack in a three-way telephone call with him"

6choing the U"S" criticism, the =erman government said in a summary o! the call that Russia

must control its orders e!!ectively to prevent arms and comatants entering Ukraine and useits in!luence with the reels to secure and protect a truce"

=&S 1&%S

Ukrainian !orces reclaimed !rom reel control the city o! :ariupol on 8riday, a ma2or port !or

e>port o! steel" 1he Ukrainian !lag was raised over regional government head$uarters o! the

city o! , that had long een a !ocus o! clashes"

Ukraine5s presidential press service $uoted the de!ence minister as telling Poroshenko more

than reels had een killed in the past 4 hours"

't was also not clear how the reel death toll was reached y iev5s pro-6uropean authorities,

and the separatists have sco!!ed at such high casualty estimates in the past"

1he separatists say they get their weapons !rom looted military stockpiles" 1hey shot down a

military cargo plane last week, killing three people, and a general was among +4 killed when

they hit an :i-? transport helicopter on :ay 9"

@espite the continuing violence, Ukraine and Russia have egun talks on a peace plan and

:oscow made a goodwill gesture y agreeing to make a last attempt to solve a gas pricingdispute e!ore a :onday deadline to cut o!! supplies to iev"

1alks were due to resume in iev on Saturday evening" /utting o!! supplies to iev could also

cause disruptions to deliveries to the 6uropean Union, which gets hal! its gas imports !rom

Russia through Ukraine"

8/12/2019 Ukraine Separatists Shoot Down Military Plane, 49 Dead

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1he talks have een complicated y tension over the uprising in Russian-speaking eastUkraine, which the reels want :oscow to anne>e, as it did /rimea in :arch" 1heir calls !or a

Russian invasion have gone unanswered"

Russia !ears losing in!luence in Ukraine !ollowing the overthrow o! its :oscow-leaning

 president in 8eruary and its new leaders5 pro-3estern policies" Ukraine was ruled !rom

:oscow in Soviet times and is seen y Russians as the cradle o! their civilisation"

(&dditional reporting y &lessandra Prentice in @onetsk, =uy 1rompi; in Paris, &nnika

Areidthardt in Aerlin and *ess :ason in /ali!orniaB 3riting y 1imothy .eritageB 6diting y

Pravin /har)