Ukrainian Plane 'Likely Shot Down From Russia'

A Ukrainian transport aircraft was "probably" shot down from within Russian territory, Ukraine's defence ministry has claimed.

Ukrainian officials lost contact with the AN-26 transporter's crew near rebel-held Luhansk at lunchtime on Monday but all eight people on board managed to bail out safely.

A statement on the Ukrainian presidency website said only missiles "likely from the territory of the Russian Federation" would have been able to reach the aircraft at the altitude it was flying - 6,500 metres.

Pro-Russian rebels had previously claimed they had shot down the craft but their portable surface-to-air missiles work up to about 3,500 metres.

The AN-26 was carrying eight people, who were able to bail out safely

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the plane.

Fighting has been intensifying around Luhansk as government forces stepped up efforts to disrupt rebel lines.

Warplanes inflicted heavy losses on the separatists during airstrikes overnight, Ukraine's military said.

Government troops retook several villages around Luhansk and reopened a corridor to the airport, it was claimed.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has accused the Russian military of sending officers to fight alongside the rebels in the east of the country.

A Ukrainian woman in Semenovka looks at buildings destroyed during combat

He also claimed that a newly developed Russian missile system had been used against Ukrainian forces during the previous three days.

NATO said Russia had increased its forces along the border and now had 10,000-12,000 troops in the area.

But amid the heightened tensions, Russia said it had invited the OSCE security monitoring group to two of its border crossings with Ukraine as a sign of "goodwill".

At the weekend, Moscow claimed a man in Russia had been killed by a shell that had come from across the border.

Ukrainian forces have been retaking territory on the edge of Luhansk

But Ukraine's National and Security Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko accused rebel fighters of being behind the cross-border shelling.

He told journalists on Monday morning: "The (rebel) fighters systematically fire mortar and shoot into Russian territory which killed a Russian citizen."

On Sunday, Vladimir Putin met with Angela Merkel at the World Cup in Brazil. The German Chancellor urged the Russian President to use his influence over the separatists to help bring about an end to fighting.

In the last two weeks, the government has halved the amount of territory held by the pro-Russia fighters.

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