While the focus of the world is on the advances of the ISIL forces towards Baghdad and it holds its breath as to what the U.S., and others, will do, things are unraveling rapidly in Ukraine — again.
The Guardian reports, “Pro-Russian rebels have shot down a military transport plane in Luhansk in the bloodiest single day of fighting in eastern Ukraine since the conflict began in April…”
Rebels shot down an Il-76 transport plane in Luhansk, killing all 40 paratroopers and nine crew members who were aboard.
.Surveillance camera footage from the city showed a mid-air explosion after an object – apparently a rocket – streaked into the sky, followed by a larger explosion and fire on the ground. A Kiev military analyst later reported that the empty tubes of two Igla handheld surface-to-air missiles had been found near Luhansk airport, the only significant piece of infrastructure Ukrainian forces have been able to retain in the rebel-held city.
There was additional fighting in the city of Krasnodon, in the neighboring Donetsk region and “rebels in the city of Gorlovka, which is held by former Russian lieutenant colonel Igor ‘Demon’ Bezler, said they had shot down a government Su-25 fighter jet after a night air strike on the rebel headquarters that reportedly killed one civilian and wounded six rebels.”
Read more here.
Now, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to retaliate for the shooting down of the transport aircraft, according to the BBC.
And the BBC reports that the Russian embassy in the capital, Kiev, has been attacked.
Read more here.
Image: www.shutterstock.com
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.