Ukraine’s interior minister and 17 other people, including three children, died in a helicopter crash near kyiv, state police said. Here is what we know about the circumstances of this crash.
HASAt least 18 people, including the Ukrainian interior minister and three children, were killed in a helicopter crash on Wednesday near a kindergarten in the Kyiv region, national police said.
The helicopter that Minister Denys Monastyrsky was going to the front, the Ukrainian presidency said on Wednesday.
“The purpose of this flight (was to go) to one of the hot spots in our country where the fighting is taking place. The Minister of the Interior was going there,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential cabinet, told Ukrainian television.
“The number of victims has increased. At 10:30 a.m., there are 18 dead, including 3 children, “said the governor of the region, Oleksiï Kouleba, on Telegram.
He said that “there are also 29 injured, including 15 children”, raising fears of an even heavier toll.
Among the victims are Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, 42, his first deputy Yevgeny Yenine, and the Ministry’s State Secretary Yuriy Lubkovych, who were on board the plane alongside six other people. said the head of the Ukrainian national police in a press release.
“My colleagues, my friends. What a tragic loss. Sincere condolences to their families, ”responded on Twitter Anton Gerachtchenko, an adviser to Mr. Monastyrsky.
No information on the cause of the tragedy
The crash took place in Brovary, a town of some 100,000 inhabitants which touches the eastern suburbs of kyiv. Significant fighting had opposed Ukrainians and Russians there when troops from Moscow tried to force the lock of the capital in the first weeks of their invasion.
At the time of the tragedy, “children and employees” of the nursery school located near the scene of the accident were on site, said Mr. Kouleba.
According to footage posted on social media, a huge fire broke out after the helicopter fell, with a residential building nearby as well.
At the time of the tragedy, “children and employees” of the nursery school were there, said regional governor Oleksiï Kouleba.
According to footage posted on social media, a huge fire broke out after the helicopter fell.
No information on the cause of the tragedy was immediately released.
The aircraft that crashed belonged to the State Service for Emergency Situations under the Interior Ministry, according to a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force.
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