Ukraine military on Thursday claimed to have shot down five Russian planes and a Russian helicopter in the breakaway Luhansk region shortly after Moscow launched a military operation against the country. Ukraine military claims five Russian planes and a Russian helicopter were shot down in the Luhansk region, news agency Reuters reported. Ukraine’s border guard agency said that the Russian military has attacked the country from neighboring Belarus. The agency said the Russian troops unleashed an artillery barrage as part of an attack backed by Belarus. They said the Ukrainian border guards were firing back, adding that there was no immediate report of casualties. Russian troops have deployed to its ally Belarus for military drills, a move that the West saw as a prelude to an invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv is about 75 km (50 miles) south of the border with Belarus.