Kremlin-backed insurgents shoot down military plane in Luhansk, killing 49 (VIDEO, UPDATES)

“Overnight on June 13 and 14, terrorists cynically and treacherously shot the IL-76, transportation air carrier of Ukrainian Air Force as it was approaching the land of Luhansk airport. Terrorists used an anti-aircraft installation and heavy machine gun,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The ministry statement did not give a death toll, but Reuters cited military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov as saying that 49 servicemen had been killed when the plane went down. 

A Defense Ministry official with knowledge of the incident told the Kyiv Post by phone that “very, very many” were dead but refused to give the number because he was not authorized to speak with media.

Meanwhile, the National Guard press service mentioned that there were three Ukrainian planes overall going to Luhansk overnight on June 13-14 – first one landed successfully, second one was shot down and third one managed to retire.

Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the former defense minister, told the Kyiv Post that 40 of the servicemen killed were paratroopers from the 25th Dnipropetrovsk air brigade and nine were crew members from the Melitopil-based transport brigade.

The death of the 49 troops marks the biggest loss of servicemen suffered in a single event since Ukraine’s anti-terrorist operation began in April and brings the total number of killed servicemen to at least 115. 

“On board [the cargo plane] were military personnel, machinery, equipment and supplies,” the Defense Ministry statement reads. “Supervisors of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and command of the Air Force of Ukraine express sincere condolences to the parents, relatives and friends of soldiers in connection with the tragic loss.”

The so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” took responsibility for shooting down the Ukrainian air carrier, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian service, citing Luhansk People’s Republic spokeswoman Oksana Chygryna. “The plane was shot down by militia. [Ukrainian forces] violated [LNR leader Valeriy] Bolotov’s decree about closed air space over Luhansk. The document implied relevant measures for violating it,” Chygryna said.

Dmitry Tymchuk, a military analyst and head of the Kyiv-based non-governmental organization Information Resistance, reported that Ukrainian anti-terrorist operation forces discovered at insurgent positions near the airport three “Igla” man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) believed to have been used to down the IL-76 cargo plane.

Two “Igla” MANPADS were found, one was technically defective (9M39 rocket remained in the pipe),” Tymchuk added.

This video, filmed by a CCTV camera and published on YouTube, is said to show the plane crashing in Luhansk overnight on June 13-14.

Kremlin-backed insurgents have fought pitched battles with Ukrainian forces throughout the region, managing to capture a National Guard base as well as a headquarters of the State Border Guard Service.

They have also seized control of several border crossings to allow reinforcements in the form of fighters and weapons to pass from Russia into Ukraine. 

Luhansk is one of the nerve centers of the pro-Russian separatist movement in the country’s restive east where a referendum on secession was held on May 11 and gunmen have seized control of key buildings and set up checkpoints around the city. 

Ukrainian officials declared boldly on June 13 that their forces would wrest back control of the entire eastern border with Russia in the coming days. 

The declaration came shortly after National Guard troops and militiamen from Azov and Dnipro 1 units neutralized armed separatists in the southeastern port city of Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast and seized control of the city. 

Later, President Petro Poroshenko ordered the Donetsk regional government to move its offices to the port city and begin work immediately. Regional authorities had previously been evicted by armed separatists, who have occupied the State Regional Administration building in central Donetsk, using it as a headquarters.