At least 17 people including Ukraine’s interior minister and fourchildren were killed when a helicopter crashed on its way to a combat “hotspot” in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, who oversaw Ukraine’s police and emergency services, is the most senior Kyiv official to die since Russia invaded nearly 11 months ago.
The head of the national police, Igor Klimenko, said that Mr Monastyrskyi’s first deputy, Yevheniy Yenin, and the interior ministry's state secretary also died when the aircraft came down on Wednesday morning beside a nursery in Brovary, a suburb to the east of Kyiv.
Ukraine’s the SBU state security service said it was investigating possible causes of the crash, including “a breach of flight rules, a technical malfunction and the intentional destruction of the helicopter”. There has been no suggestion from any other Ukrainian officials about potential Russian involvement in this crash.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the crash as “a terrible tragedy” on a “black morning”. “The pain is unspeakable,” he wrote on Telegram. The minister's death cuts to the heart of Kyiv’s government, with the interior ministry being responsible for maintaining security within Ukraine and running the police during Russia’s invasion.
Wreckage from the helicopter lay outside a burning building and a fire broke out close to the nursery as children and staff were evacuated from the building. The crash caused a large fire, and an entire side of the nursery building was charred.
"We saw wounded people, we saw children. There was a lot of fog here, everything was strewn all around. We could hear screams, we ran towards them," Glib, a 17-year-old local resident, told Reuters on the scene.
Nine of those killed were aboard the emergency services helicopter, Mr Klymenko, said. Six interior ministry officials and three crew.
The final death toll has yet to be confirmed but earlier reports from Ukrainian officials said it could be as high as 18. Ukraine's State Emergency Service said that 25 people have been injured, including 11 children.
“The delegation was heading to a hot spot,” Mr Tymoshenko said of the helicopter’s destination. That was confirmed to be Kharkiv by regional police chief Volodymyr Tymoshko.
“Today I was supposed to welcome, to shake hands with, to meet... not only the leaders, no, but friends whom I respected and awaited," Mr Tymoshko wrote on Facebook – adding that their deaths are “an irreparable loss”.
“Unfortunately this happened with a state emergency service helicopter which was fulfilling its task,” Air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Apostrof TV.
Ukraine first lady Olena Zelenska was seen with teary eyes minutes before attending a World Economic Forum session in Davos, Switzerland, following news of the fatal crash.
Forum president Borge Brende requested 15 seconds of silence after opening the session to honor the Ukrainian officials killed in the crash.
Mr Monastyrskyi, 42, was a trained lawyer and politician who won a seat in the 2019 parliamentary election representing Mr Zelensky's party. He served as head of the parliamentary Committee on Law Enforcement Affairs before becoming interior minister. He took up his current role in July 2021.
The UK home secretary, Suella Braverman, called Mr Monastyrskyi "a leading light in supporting the Ukrainian people" during Russia's invasion and said she was struck by his determination, optimism and patriotism.
It comes as Ukraine reported intense fighting overnight in the east of the country, where both sides have taken huge losses for little gain in intense trench warfare over the last two months.
Ukrainian forces repelled attacks in the eastern city of Bakhmut and the village of Klishchiivka just south of it, the Ukrainian military said. Russia has focused on Bakhmut in recent weeks, claiming last week to have taken the mining town of Soledar on its northern outskirts.
Western allies will be gathering on Friday at a US air base in Germany to pledge more weapons for Ukraine. Attention is focused in particular on Germany, which has veto power over any decision to send its Leopard tanks, which are fielded by armies across Europe and widely seen as the most suitable for Ukraine.
Berlin says a decision on the tanks will be the first item on the agenda of Boris Pistorius, its new defence minister.
Britain promised a squadron of its Challenger tanks to Ukraine over the weekend and has called on Germany to approve the Leopards. Poland and Finland have already said they would be ready to send Leopards if Berlin allows it.
Reuters contributed to this report
