Ukraine’s BROVARY On Wednesday, the interior minister of Ukraine and approximately a dozen other people, including a kid on the ground, died after a helicopter carrying them crashed into a kindergarten in a misty residential neighborhood of Kyiv.
Denys Monastyrskyi, the interior minister who handled the nation’s police and emergency services, is the highest-ranking official to die since Russia invaded almost 11 months ago. His demise, along with that of the other members of his ministry’s leadership and the entire helicopter crew, marked the second significant tragedy to strike Ukraine in the previous four days, following the death of numerous civilians when a Russian missile struck an apartment complex in the city of Dnipro.
No information was available right away regarding the cause of the helicopter crash, which happened early one morning in the eastern suburb of the capital called Brovary. The investigation was started right away by Ukrainian officials. There haven’t been any recent reports of conflict in the capital area.
The disaster had a significant connection to the war, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was speaking via video link to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He asked the Davos audience to join him in observing a standing minute of silence in memory of the victims. “This is not an accident because it has been caused by conflict and the war has many aspects, not just on the battlefields,” he said. “In times of conflict, accidents seldom happen. All of these are effects of war.
At least 14 persons were killed, including nine on the Super Puma helicopter and a toddler on the ground, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, which was flying the French-built aircraft. According to the report, 11 youngsters were among the 25 injured. Various numbers of casualties were reported in the first official reports.
At least four bodies were covered with plastic at the scene of the collision and subsequent fire. A playground for the kindergarten and some wreckage next to an apartment complex were cleaned by workers. A few walls were partially destroyed and turned black. The blackened rotors of the helicopter sat on the roof of a building entryway and protruded from a wrecked automobile.
Oleksii Kuleba, the regional governor of Kyiv, told Ukrainian television that the death toll would increase and that rescue workers were still identifying remains.
According to the Ukraine National Police, the crash claimed the lives of three helicopter crew members, one national police official, and five officials from the Interior Ministry. Yevhen Yenin, Monastyrskyi’s deputy, and Yurii Lubkovych, state secretary of the ministry of internal affairs, were among the fatalities, according to the police.
According to political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, Monastyrskyi, 42, was in charge of the police and emergency services that dealt with the effects of Russian attacks and de-mining.
Ihor Klymenko, the head of the National Police, has been named acting interior minister, according to prime minister Denys Shmyhal.
Senior Ukrainian officials frequently fly in helicopters during the battle at low altitudes and high speeds, heightening the inherent hazards of the flights. According to Fesenko, the tragedy might lead Kyiv to adopt a regulation that many nations and businesses already have in place: top officials shouldn’t fly on the same plane.
According to the local police head Volodymyr Tymoshko, the individuals traveling in the chopper were scheduled to stop in the northern Kharkiv region of Ukraine. He added on Facebook that they were “not just leaders,” but also “friends who I admired.”
A French defense source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to be identified in accordance with ministry rules claimed that the helicopter was sold to Ukraine prior to the war in 2019.
According to prosecutor general Andriy Kostin’s Telegram post, the Security Service of Ukraine is looking into “all conceivable versions” of the crash.
The crash happened two days after a Russian airstrike in southeast Ukraine that killed 45 people, including six children, and was the bloodiest attack on civilians since the spring. This was a particularly sad time in the war for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy posted on Telegram, “The pain is beyond words.
His wife, Olena Zelenska, who was rallying support for Ukraine at the economic conference in Davos, replied to the news by wiping away her tears, “Another very sad day today – additional losses.”
John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, described the disaster as “heartbreaking.”
Monastyrskyi was “a leading light in supporting the Ukrainian people throughout (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s illegitimate invasion,” according to British Home Secretary Suella Braverman. He was “struck by his resolve, hope, and patriotism,” she claimed.
