Ukraine says a missile was likely fired from the Russian side of the border, bringing down a military cargo plan bringing food rations and water to troops fighting the pro-Moscow insurgency in the east.  A massive search and rescue operation is underway for the missing crew.

The crumpled, smoldering wreck remains in a field near the town of Davydo-Nikolsoye.  A separatist group from Luhansk claims five of the eight crewmembers have been taken hostage and are being held in Krasnodon.  Kiev has not verified that claim.

It’s also not completely clear who shot down the Russian-made Ukraine Military AN-26 cargo plane, a relic of the cold war still in use around the world..  Ukraine’s Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey said the plane was flying above the range of the shoulder-fired surface to air missiles known to be used by the separatists, and believes that it was “downed by another, more powerful missile that probably was launched from the territory of the Russian Federation.”

Over the weekend, Russia vowed retaliation for a shell fired from Ukraine that killed a man and injured his wife in their garden on the Russian side of the border.  Russia has not claimed responsibility for the downing of the AN-26.