Five dead in military helicopter crash in east Ukraine

MOSCOW: A Ukrainian military helicopter crashed in the war-torn east of the country on Sunday, killing all five people aboard after apparently hitting a power line, in what is believed to be an accident, the army said.

"Five people died in this tragedy -- three crew members and two passengers," army spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzianyk said.



The incident occurred near the village of Malynivka, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of government-controlled city of Kramatorsk in the war-torn Donetsk region.

Motuzianyk said that the cause of the crash appeared to be "collision with a power line", but it has yet to be investigated.



Nearly 10,000 people have died since the start of a pro-Russian rebellion in 2014 that Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of masterminding.

Both Ukraine and the West -- which has imposed sanctions on Russia as a result of the unrest -- say the separatist regions receive military backing from Moscow, although Russia has never officially recognised them.