Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi was among 18 people killed in a horrific helicopter crash on Wednesday in the eastern Kyiv suburb of Brovary.
Also among the dead was Monastyrskyi’s deputy Yevhen Yenin, and State Secretary of the Internal Affairs Ministry Yurii Lubkovych.
The deaths were confirmed by Ukraine National Police Chief Ilhor Klymenko, whose force answered to Monastyrskyi.
Of those who were killed, nine were passengers aboard the emergency services helicopter that reportedly crashed into a building near a kindergarten.
Three children were among the nine who were killed at the crash site; 29 more were injured, including 15 children, according to Kyiv Regional Governor Oleksii Kuleba.
It’s not yet clear what caused the helicopter to crash. Ukraine’s security service has launched an investigation into the tragedy.
The country’s prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, said in a statement posted on Telegram that for now, Ukraine’s security personnel “are considering all possible versions of the helicopter crash accident.”
