A pilot has been killed and others wounded after pro-Russian separatists used anti-aircraft weapons to fight off a dawn raid by Ukrainian forces.
Separatists in Slavyansk said they were fighting back against a "large-scale operation" to retake the city by Ukrainian forces.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov confirmed a pilot had been killed and urged local people to stay indoors during the "anti-terrorist operation".
Posting on Facebook, he said the city was "tightly surrounded".
"Against Ukraine's special forces, terrorists used heavy artillery, including grenade launchers and portable anti-aircraft missile launchers.
"One pilot is dead and there are wounded," said Mr Avakov .
A Reuters photographer reported seeing a military helicopter open fire on the outskirts of the town and separatists claimed two aircraft had been shot down.
Mr Avakov said the raid had begun at 4.30am, with soldiers seizing control of nine checkpoints on roads around Slavyansk.
"The goal of our anti-terrorist operation and, at the same time, our demands to the terrorists are simple," he posted.
"Free the hostages, lay down weapons, vacate administrative buildings and get municipal infrastructure back to normal."
The Ukrainian government claimed it had taken control of some checkpoints The action in Slavyansk, if confirmed, would mark the first significant military response by Kiev.
Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the insurgency-appointed mayor of Slavyansk, said self-defence forces had shot down two helicopters and taken one pilot hostage.
Ukraine's security service, the SBU, confirmed the hostage reports but said only one Mi-24 helicopter had been shot down - using a shoulder-launched missile.
It said another aircraft had made a forced landing, while a third helicopter carrying medical staff was hit and one person wounded.
Latest pictures from Slavyansk this morning A spokesman for the separatists said there had been fighting in several areas around the city, with government armoured vehicles spotted on roads around Slavyansk.
An cameraman for the AP news agency reported seeing black plumes of smoke on the edge of the city and said an emergency siren had sounded at dawn.
The apparent move to retake the city came only hours after Russia staged a huge May Day parade on Moscow's Red Square on Thursday.
It is the first since the Soviet era - with workers holding banners proclaiming support for President Vladimir Putin after the seizure of territory from neighbouring Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have been criticised for being slow to act to stop the rebels seizing swathes of its Donbass coal and steel belt.
They launched an "anti-terrorist" operation in early April but have resisted large-scale measures so far.
Armed groups seeking union with Russia have seized a number of government buildings in towns in eastern Ukraine.
Russia's President Putin yesterday called on Ukraine to remove its forces from the east and south of the country.
But hours later Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, ordered that military conscription of men aged 18-25 be restarted because of "threats of encroachment on the nation's territorial integrity".
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