A Ukrainian armed forces Mi-8 helicopter shot down by militants near Mount Karachun in the Donetsk region on Tuesday was returning to its base after supplying a checkpoint with cargos, says Vladyslav Selezniov, the head of the information service of the antiterrorist operation in eastern Ukraine.

"A Mi-8 helicopter returning from a Ukrainian checkpoint after performing its mission on delivering cargos was shot down using MANPADS near Mount Karachun outside Sloviansk at about 1700. The gunmen who fired a missile fled to the nearest village of Bylbasivka," Selezniov said on Facebook on Tuesday.

There were nine people on board the helicopter, and all of them were killed when the helicopter crashed, he said.

"There were specialists on board the helicopter who had installed equipment for monitoring the area and recording facts of violation of the peace plan for eastern Ukraine," Selezniov said.

A search and rescue team is working at the crash site at the moment, he said.