Ukraine’s interior minister among 18 dead in helicopter crash near nursery, children killed
- Helicopter came down near a nursery in the town of Brovary on the capital’s outskirts, four children died
- Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky and his first deputy, Yevheniy Yenin, were killed
Ukraine’s interior minister was among 18 people, including four children, who were killed when a helicopter crashed near a kindergarten outside the capital Kyiv, officials said on Wednesday.
In a video that circulated online from the aftermath of the incident, cries could be heard at the scene, which was consumed by a fire.
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Ukraine’s interior minister among 18 killed in helicopter crash near Kyiv
The French-made Super Puma helicopter crashed in a residential area in the suburb of Brovary on the capital’s eastern outskirts, located some 20km (12 miles) northeast of Kyiv.
The national police chief said that Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, who was appointed under President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2021, was killed.
His first deputy, Yevheniy Yenin, and the ministry’s state secretary also died, he said.
“As a result of the crash in Brovary, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine was killed. They were in the helicopter of the State Emergency Service,” police chief Ihor Klymenko said.