Ukraine rebels shoot down two helicopters

Pro-Russian rebels today gunned down two government helicopters as violence erupted in eastern Ukraine.

Two Ukrainian troops died when the helicopters were shot down over the separatist-held eastern town of Slovyansk, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said.

“As a result of the shooting, two troops from the Ukrainian army were killed,” the ministry said in a statement.

The assault on Slovyansk began in the early hours with gunfire heard around checkpoints - the government later claimed to have captured nine of them.

Rebels said they had also downed a second helicopter and taken its pilot hostage. Witnesses earlier reported an aircraft opening fire on a militant position.

Explosions were heard as the battle raged with the Ukrainian Security Services reporting that its forces were fighting “highly skilled foreign military men”.

Russia has denied it is involved in burgeoning unrest in eastern Ukraine, but has said it retains the right to defend Russian speakers’ interests - it has 40,000 troops stationed near the border.

As tensions soared last night the Ukrainian government in Kiev introduced conscription citing the need to face down a threat from “armed pro-Russian units”.

The Kiev government said one helicopter was shot down with a surface-to-air missile and its pilot killed.

Ukrainian interior minister Arsen Avakov said government troops met fierce resistance from soldiers using heavy artillery but had taken control of roads around Slovyansk.

He said on his Facebook page that the offensive was “the active phase of the anti-terrorist operation”.

Mr Avakov added that its goals were to make rebels “lay down their arms and free administrative buildings, and restore the normal functioning of the town’s administration”.