Ukraine says military plane 'likely' shot down from Russia

Ukrainian forces were hunting for the crew of a downed military plane that Kyiv said was "likely" shot down from Russia, as Washington accused Moscow of supplying military hardware to the rebels.
      
"Crew members from an AN-26 plane... that was shot down have established contact with the general staff," said a statement on the Ukrainian presidency website, without giving further details on the whereabouts of the eight people on board.
     
It said the transport aircraft had been flying too high to be hit by portable missile systems used by the rebels, meaning the shots had "likely (come) from the territory of the Russian Federation".
      
A spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council said they thought the plane was hit either by a Greyhound surface-to-missile or a projectile fired from a jet that had taken off in Russia.
      
The United States on Monday accused Russia of providing the pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine with military equipment such as tanks and rocket launchers.
      
Washington also claimed Moscow was redeploying forces to the volatile border between the ex-Soviet states.        

"While Russia says it seeks peace, its actions do not match its rhetoric. We have no evidence that Russia's support for the separatists has ceased," the State Department said.        

"In fact, we assess that Russia continues to provide them with heavy weapons, other military equipment and financing, and continues to allow militants to enter Ukraine freely."         

Around a field in the rebel-controlled eastern Lugansk region close to the border with Russia, AFP journalists found the strewn wreckage of the plane, and local...