Rebels shot down a Ukrainian helicopter carrying technicians who had been installing equipment to monitor violations of a peace plan in Ukraine's rebellious east on Tuesday, killing all nine people on board, a military spokesman said.
The technicians had been returning from setting up specialised equipment when their Mi-8 cargo helicopter was struck by a rebel missile near Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine, government forces spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov said.
"There were 9 people on board. According to preliminary information ... all those on board were killed," Seleznyov said on his Facebook page. The nine dead included a three-man crew.
"The (rebel) fighters, having fired the rocket, hid in the nearby village of Bylbasovka," he said.
Also on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was not enough for Ukraine to declare a seven-day ceasefire in its fight with rebels in eastern Ukraine, and that substantive talks must follow to guarantee the rights of the Russian-speaking minority.
"It is not enough to announce a ceasefire," he told reporters on a visit to Vienna. "A substantive discussion of the essence of the problems is essential."
Putin also said his earlier decision to renounce a mandate to send troops into Ukraine to protect that minority did not mean Russia would stop protecting their interests.
For his part, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Russia's move to revoke a resolution authorising military intervention in Ukraine was the Kremlin's "first practical step" towards settling the crisis in the country's restive east.
The decision is "the first practical step since the Russian President formally supported the Ukraine's peace plan," a statement posted on the presidential website quoted Poroshenko as saying.
Earlier, Ukrainian government forces accused pro-Russian separatists of firing on Ukrainian military checkpoints in several parts of the east on Monday night despite a ceasefire declared by the rebels.
No sustained fighting were reported in the incidents, nor any casualties on the Ukrainian side which is also observing a week-long ceasefire until June 27.
"(Separatist) fighters are not ceasing to shoot at the positions of Ukrainian forces," Vladyslav Seleznyov, a spokesman for the Kiev government's "anti-terrorist" operation, said on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
Rebel militia, using grenade-launchers and mortar, carried out attacks on a government military post near the rebel-controlled town of Slaviansk and used small arms in an assault on another post further east towards the border with Russia, Selznyov said.
He said Ukrainian government forces had not been involved in any military action in line with a ceasefire announced by President Petro Poroshenko last Friday.
"I cannot say whether the separatists have violated or not violated (the ceasefire), but the facts speak for themselves - yesterday during the day and in the evening they fired on our positions," Seleznyov told Reuters separately.
Separatist leaders in two main areas of Ukraine's east on Monday night agreed also to a truce until the morning of June 27, raising the first real prospect of an end to hostilities since separatist rebellions erupted in the east in April.
The rebels, who have declared "people's republics" and have said they want to join Russia, declared their ceasefire after talks involving a former Ukrainian president, Moscow's envoy to Kiev and a high-ranking representative of the OSCE security and rights watchdog.
Poroshenko's ceasefire is part of his peace plan to end a pro-Russia insurgency in areas near the border with Russia which threatens dismemberment of the ex-Soviet republic.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula earlier this year after street protests in Kiev ousted the Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich from power.
Poroshenko's plan, which offers a safety "corridor" back to Russia for pro-Russian fighters who lay down their arms, has secured the backing of Western governments and qualified support from Russian President Vladimir Putin who has urged Kiev to hold talks with the separatist leaders.
The next step in contacts between the two sides is not clear, though it seems likely the rebels may use the break in hostilities to press demands for "federalization" of Ukraine - something which Kiev refuses because it sees it as likely to lead to the country breaking up.
US:
The United States welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin's acceptance of cease-fire in Ukraine but wants to see "tangible actions" to de-escalate the crisis, the White House said on Tuesday.
"What we're focused ... on is not just the words of the Russian president, though we welcome them. What we're focused on is the actions," such as ending support for separatists, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters in a briefing.
Earnest also said President Barack Obama called British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday to discuss Ukraine and other issues.
EU:
The European Union stands ready to support a fresh peace plan launched by Russia and Ukraine, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Tuesday.
"We stand ready to assist the peace plan just launched and we urge all parties to seize this opportunity to de-escalate the crisis and end violence of this developing tragedy," Barroso told a conference of central European prime ministers in Budapest.
Referring to an association agreement the EU is planning to sign with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, Barroso said: "This week on the 27th of June we are going to sign this agreement, not only the remaining part with Ukraine, but also the full agreement with Georgia and Moldova, which shows that the EU is giving a helping hand to other parts of Europe that do not yet enjoy all the benefits of European integration."
Eurobond:
Russian Finance Ministry said on Tuesday it has received a $73.3 million coupon payment on a $3 billion Eurobond from Ukraine after Euroclear Bank said the delay was caused by an "operational oversight" by the Bank.
The coupon payment for the Eurobond that Russia bought in December was due on Friday.
"The payment was received in full," the Finance Ministry press service said.
Euroclear Bank, the international settlement system that handled the bond, said that the funds were received in good time from Ukraine.
The delay "was the result of an operational oversight by Euroclear Bank," a representative at the Bank told Reuters.
Russia purchased the Eurobond under a financial aid package agreed with then-president Viktor Yanukovich, who was later ousted and replaced by a government much less sympathetic to Russia.
REUTERS