In what has been the largest lost for Ukrainian forces in recent time, a Ukrainian Helicopter has reportedly been shot down by Pro-Russian rebels. According to BBC these rebels created an anti-aircraft system to take down Ukrainian planes & copters. Ultimately, the Ukrainian president released that 14 Ukrainians were dead from the attack, among these casualties was an army general.
This incident took place in Sloviansk, a town that has been undergoing heavy fighting among separatist and government forces.
[ BBC Excerpt]
—The helicopter arrived at Karachun [near Sloviansk], to unload and pick up a group of people who were finishing their tour and going on leave. They were shot down after take-off. I had talked to the pilot and also to Gen Kulchytskiy. The pilots were very nice guys – polite, correct, friendly.
Gen Kulchytskiy was very capable and very accessible. A good commander who would fly to the checkpoints where his soldiers were. He would personally bring them food and water. He kept an eye on everything.
The fighting here has become more frequent recently. In the last few days, it broke out even during the daytime. Previously, it happened only at night.
However, the last two days were relatively quiet. The army man checkpoints, preventing the forces of the People’s Republic of Donetsk from moving about freely. The mood is good among the soldiers. No desertion or talk about giving up. People are in good fighting spirit.
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