Ukraine: Fighter jet shot down by missile
Last Updated Aug 30, 2014 11:27 AM EDT
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian forces say one of their fighter jets has been shot down by a Russian missile in combat against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
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Fighting escalates as Ukraine and NATO claim Russians troops are in eastern Ukriane
A brief statement posted Saturday on the Facebook page for the so-called operation against separatists said the Su-25 was hit on Friday, and that the pilot ejected and was uninjured. The statement said the plane was hit by a missile from a Russian launcher, but did not give more detail.
The development comes as the European Union was poised Saturday to impose new sanctions against Russia and Ukraine's president warned the conflict with Moscow threatens peace and stability for Europe as a whole.
Petro Poroshenko said before a summit of the EU's 28 leaders that a strong response was needed to the "military aggression and terror" facing his country.
"Thousands of the foreign troops and hundreds of the foreign tanks are now on the territory of Ukraine," Poroshenko told reporters in English. "There is a very high risk not only for peace and stability for Ukraine, but for the whole peace and stability of Europe."
On the ground, fighting continued. The office of the Donetsk mayor reported in a statement on Saturday that at least two people died in an artillery attack on one of Donetsk's neighborhoods. Shelling was reported elsewhere in the city, but there was no immediate word on casualties.
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Ukraine: Fighter jet shot down by missile