AKIPRESS.COM - Pro-Russian insurgents shot down a Ukrainian army helicopter on Thursday, killing 14 soldiers including a general, as government forces pressed ahead with an offensive to crush rebellions in the east swiftly following the election of a new president, Cyprus Mail reports.

Acting president Oleksander Turchinov said the helicopter, which had been carrying supplies in eastern Ukraine, had been brought down by anti-aircraft fire from near the town of Slaviansk, which has been under the control of insurgents since early April.

It was one of the heaviest losses inflicted by the insurgents on the army in two months of unrest in Ukraine’s eastern regions, and followed a fierce assault by government forces in which 50 or so rebels were killed earlier this week.

Interior minister Arsen Avakov accused the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind the airport violence. Weapons collected at the airport after the rebels were forced out by airstrikes and a paratroop assault had been brought in from Russia, he said.

Kiev’s leaders have long asserted that Russia has fomented the rebellions in the east of Ukraine with a view to bringing about dismemberment of the country.

Moscow denies this but they also allege that it is failing to stop Russian fighters from crossing the long land border into Ukraine together with truckloads of guns and live ammunition.

Defense Minister Mikhailo Koval said on Thursday: “We have put all our forces and equipment into the anti-terrorist operation. We have covered the whole state border.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday accused the West of pushing Ukraine into “the abyss of fratricidal war,” and reiterated his call for an end to Kiev’s military offensive.