KIEV: A Ukrainian plane was shot down as fighting continued in the east of the country on Friday, amid signs the government was losing control of parts of its border with Russia.
A police officer was killed and two others injured in the attack near the separatist stronghold of Slavyansk by pro-Russian rebels who launched a mortar attack on a checkpoint after taking up position in a church, deputy interior minister Serhiy Yarovy said.
Also near Slavyansk on Friday, separatists shot down an An-26 military transport plane, a spokesman of the Ukrainian army was quoted as telling local media.
The aircraft was carrying humanitarian aid to the local population, Vladislav Seleznyov said according to Interfax Ukraine agency.
The military spokesman was not able to account for the fate of the crew, but Interfax Ukraine quoted witnesses as saying they had managed to eject from the plane before it crashed. The size of the crew was not immediately clear.
As violence continued throughout the nation's vast and heavily industrialised east, the authorities seemed to be losing control of the frontier with Russia.
The border post at Severnyi, 70 kilometres (45 miles) from the city of Lugansk, was completely deserted on Friday.
Pro-Russian fighters of the self-proclaimed "People's Republic of Lugansk" had ordered the Ukrainian border guards to leave, a local resident said.
"They departed yesterday," he said. Two border barriers had been lifted and anyone was able to cross.
The "People's Republic of Lugansk" claims to be in control of up to 200 kilometres (125 miles) of border. Ukrainian authorities admitted for the first time on Thursday that they had been forced to abandon some checkpoints.
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