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Donetsk defenders shoot down Ukrainian Su-24 bomber

The plane fell outside the city. The pilot bailed out

© © Archive ITAR-TASS/Konstantin Sazonchik

DONETSK, June 14 (ITAR-TASS) - Defenders of the Donetsk People's Republic shot down a Su-24 bomber of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Gorlovka, the Donets region, on Saturday, the press service of the republic told ITAR-TASS.

Read also

Ukrainian authorities confirm 49 dead as plane shot down in Lugansk.

Two Su-24s attacked the police department building in Gorlovka with cluster bombs. One of the planes was shot down from a portable antiaircraft gun, a source said. The plane fell outside the city. The pilot bailed out. Groups of defenders went to search for the pilot.

The shelling of the police building, the headquarters of the local militia (self defence force), killed one and injured five people. One of them is in heavy condiiton.

Ukrainian authorities earlier confirmed that a military transport plane was shot down at Lugansk airport overnight.

When landing at Lugansk airport, an Il-76 military transport plane of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was downed by a shot from an antiaircraft missile system. On board the plane were nine crewmembers and 40 servicemen. All died, the press service of the Ukrainian prosecutor's office said.

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