Ukraine military plane shot down

Davydo-Mykilske, Ukraine: Ukraine said a military plane downed over rebel territory on Monday was “likely” shot from Russia after establishing contact with the aircraft’s crew, ratcheting up tensions with Moscow along their volatile border.

A statement on the Ukrainian presidency website, without giving details of any casualties, said the transport aircraft had been flying too high to be hit by portable missile systems used by the rebels meaning the shots had come “likely from the territory of the Russian Federation”.

An AFP crew found the wreckage of the downed plane strewn around a field in the eastern Lugansk region close to the border with Russia. Residents said it had come down shortly after midday with some parachutes spotted in the sky.

There was no sign of the eight people on board. Kiev’s accusation will ramp up nerves along the porous border between the two ex-Soviet neighbours — across which Kiev accuses Moscow of pouring fighters and weapons -- despite Russia saying it was inviting international observers to monitor the frontier.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, the NATO said Russia had increased its troops near the Ukraine border to as many as 12,000 after reducing them to less than 1,000 in June.