Separatists down chopper; 12 killed

Pro-Russian rebels downed a Ukrainian helicopter yesterday, killing 12 soldiers including a general and undermining president-elect Petro Poroshenko's fervent vow to crush the bloody seven-week insurgency roiling the industrial east.
The militants' success was followed by the surprise admission by one of their leaders that 33 of more than 40 rebels killed during a raid on a Donetsk airport at the start of the week were Russian nationals from Muslim regions such as Chechnya.
The revelation challenged President Vladimir Putin's rejection of Russian links to the separatist drive and supports Kiev's claims that the rebels do not represent the true will of the miners and steel workers who have turned the east into the economic engine of Ukraine.
Separatists had earlier yesterday also confirmed they were holding four unarmed European monitors in the same region from which the Mi-8 helicopter gunship was shot out of the sky with a sophisticated surface-to-air missile.
Western-backed Poroshenko -- due to be inaugurated as president June 7 -- must further avert another showdown with Russia that could see his economically teetering country cut off from gas supplies by the start of next week.