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Pro-Russian rebels reportedly shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter over the eastern city of Slovyansk Thursday amid heavy fighting.Sources told Fox News heavy artillery and jet fighters were being used around Slovyansk, which has become the epicenter of fighting between pro-Russia insurgents and government forces in recent weeks. The city -- located 100 miles west of the Russian border -- has seen constant clashes and its residential areas have regularly come under mortar shelling from government forces, prompting some residents to flee.An Associated Press reporter witnessed the helicopter's downing Thursday. It wasn't immediately clear what weapons the rebels used to shoot it down, exactly where the helicopter fell or what happened to its crew.The Kiev government condemns the insurgency roiling the east as the work of "terrorists" bent on destroying the country and blames Russia for fomenting it. Russia denies the accusations, saying it has no influence over rebels, who insist they are only protecting the interests of the Russian-speaking population of the east. Still, fighters from Russia, including the battled-hardened region of Chechnya, have been appearing recently in the ranks of the separatists.Also Thursday, an insurgent leader in eastern Ukraine said his fighters are holding four observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and promised that they would be released imminently.
