"Foreign Military Experts" Downed Helicopter Over Slavyansk

Highly-trained foreign military specialists are operating in the zone where the counter-terrorism operation is going in in Slavyansk, according to the Ukrainian Security Service’s Counter-Terrorism Centre.

“While the counter-terrorism operation was being pursued outside Slavyansk on May 2, a Ukrainian armed forces helicopter was brought down by several rockets fired by an mobile anti-aircraft system. This is proof that highly-trained and skilled foreign military specialists are operating in the zone where the counter-terrorism operation is going on – not local civilians whom the Russian leadership claims are armed with weapons purchased from hunting stores,” a statement issued by the centre said.

The centre also states that the [April 25] attack on a helicopter at the Kramatorsk aerodrome bore similar hallmarks. “Experts say it was destroyed by an anti-tank missile at a distance of over 1.5 kilometres,” it added.

The Security Service also said it had been established that on the orders of separatist leaders, steps had been taken to use civilians as human shields both at checkpoints and in Slavyansk itself.

Russian media reported that early on May 2 fight, fighting between the Ukrainian security forces and separatists broke out in Slavyansk. They report that three helicopters have been shot down, and that one injured pilot was brought into the town by ambulance. 

This article republished from Ukrainska Pravda with kind permission.

Original article in Ukrainian.