East Ukraine militia down fighter plane, helicopter gunship, 4 APCs

People’s militia in the city of Sloviansk, east Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, have downed a fighter plane Su-25 and a Ukrainian helicopter gunship as well as four armored personnel carriers (APC), Sloviansk People’s Mayor Vyacheslav Ponomarev told ITAR-TASS on Tuesday.

Ukraine's military has amassed armored vehicles and self-propelled mortars and howitzers near the town of Sloviansk, Stella Khorosheva, spokeswoman for the Sloviansk people's mayor, told ITAR-TASS on Tuesday.

The military equipment numbering 100 units includes Grad salvo systems, Khorosheva said.

An An-30 plane has been sighted over Sloviansk, making periodic flyovers. According to Khorosheva, clashes began at around 6.00 am local time on Tuesday.

"A report said that Ukrainian troops had broken through in the area of the village of Semyonovka," she said, adding that Ukraine's National Guard was using tanks.

"It looks like they've brought here all their army and (military) equipment," she said.

Earlier, a people's militia representative told ITAR-TASS that Ukrainian military aircraft had delivered several missile strikes at Semyonovka and that the village of Cherevkovka had come under missile and machine-gun fire as well.

"There have been no casualty reports yet, because everybody is holding the line or is in shelter," the militia representative said.