At least 14 people including Ukraine’s interior minister, Denys Monastyrskiy, other senior officials and one child have been killed after their helicopter crashed into a kindergarten just outside Kyiv. A number of children at the school in Brovary, a suburb of the capital, were among the injured after the helicopter hit the building’s roof. Officials gave no immediate account of the cause of the crash.
Monastyrskiy, who was responsible for the police and security inside Ukraine, is the most senior Ukrainian official to die since the war began. The helicopter appears to have been travelling to a frontline area in foggy conditions when it came down in an area where there are a number of tall buildings. Video footage from the scene of the crash showed a large area around the school on fire in the immediate aftermath of the impact, and bodies lying in the street outside.
Volodymr Zelenskiy has described this morning’s crash as “a terrible tragedy” and a “black morning”. Writing on Telegram, Ukraine’s president said “The exact number of victims of the tragedy is currently being established. Among them are minister of internal affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrskyi, his first deputy Yevhen Yenin, state secretary of the ministry of internal affairs Yuri Lubkovych, their assistants and the helicopter crew. 25 people were injured, including ten children. As of this minute, three children died. The pain is unspeakable. I have instructed the security service of Ukraine, in cooperation with the national police of Ukraine and other authorised bodies, to find out all the circumstances of what happened.”
Ukraine’s national police chief, Ihor Klymenko, has been appointed acting interior minister, prime minister Denys Shmyhal said.
