Ukrainian air force fires over 150 missiles at Lugansk

A Ukrainian fighter flies above Lugansk during a battle between resistance fighters and the Ukrainian National Guard in June 2, 2014 (RIA Novosti)Kiev has admitted showering the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk with dozens of missiles from the air, saying that its Air Force helicopters and jets “fired more than 150 missiles” in Monday’s military action, rt.com reports.

According to a statement by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the intense bombing was meant to“support the Ukrainian Border Guards,” which the Lugansk militia have been trying to take under control.

“All in all, for fulfilling the combat support of the Ukrainian border guards the army aviators fired more than 150 missiles, carried out three jet sorties and five helicopter sorties,” the statement says. 

The air support was backed by fighter jets launching decoy flares to prevent the attacking aircraft from being targeted from the ground. 

According to the ministry, two self-defense checkpoints were destroyed in the attack. 

Not all the Monday fighting was on the outskirts of Lugansk, apparently, as one Ukrainian missile hit the occupied Lugansk administration building, killing at least eight civilians inside and nearby. Kiev has already laid the blame on the self-defense forces for the “blast,” which has undoubtedly been confirmed as an airstrike by the accounts of witnesses and the CCTV footage from the scene.