Five dead in military helicopter crash in east Ukraine

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 spokesman 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.