18 killed including interior minister in helicopter crash near Kyiv

• 12:35 p.m.: Moscow compares the West’s actions against Russia to those of Hitler against the Jews

Russia’s chief diplomat Sergey Lavrov compared the actions of Western countries against his country with the Nazi regime’s “final solution” to exterminate the Jews, statements that reflect a thesis now often cited in Moscow.

“Just as Napoleon mobilized almost all of Europe against the Russian Empire, just as Hitler mobilized and conquered most of the European countries to throw them against the Soviet Union, today the United States has formed a coalition” against Moscow, said Sergei Lavrov, during his press conference earlier in the year .

Their task “is the same: a ‘final solution’ to the Russian question. Just as Hitler wanted to solve the Jewish question, now Western leaders (…) are saying it is clear that Russia must suffer a strategic defeat,” he said. he added.

• 11:16 a.m.: Zelensky laments the “terrible tragedy” following the interior minister’s helicopter crash

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky deplored the “terrible tragedy” and expressed “unspeakable pain” following the helicopter crash at a school near Kyiv that killed 18 people including children and the Minister of Internal Education.

“Today a terrible tragedy occurred in Brovary”, a large city touching the eastern outskirts of Kyiv, said Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram. “The pain is unspeakable. The helicopter crashed in the kindergarten yard,” he added.

• 10:53 am: Home Minister’s death is a “huge loss” (Prime Minister)

The death of Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky in a helicopter crash that brought him to the front was a “tremendous loss”, lamented Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal.

“Tragedy in Brovary. (…) Huge loss to the government and the entire state” of Ukraine, he said on Telegram, calling for “the immediate creation of a special group for a detailed investigation of the circumstances of the tragedy”.

• 10:44 a.m.: Minister of Home Affairs steps forward

The helicopter carrying Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, which crashed near Kyiv, was on its way to the front lines, Ukraine’s presidency said Wednesday.

“The purpose of this flight (to go) to one of the hot spots in our country where fighting is going on. The interior minister is heading there,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential cabinet. on Ukrainian television.

• 10:37 a.m.: Charles Michel laments the death of a Ukrainian minister, “friend of the European Union”

European Council President Charles Michel lamented the death in a helicopter crash of Ukraine’s Interior Minister, a “good friend of the European Union”, and expressed his “deepest condolences” to the Ukrainian people.

“We join in the suffering of Ukraine,” wrote Charles Michel, who represents the EU’s 27 member states, on Twitter.

• 10:12am: “We don’t know what caused the crash, investigation is open”, explains Gulliver Cragg, our correspondent in Kyiv

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• 9:50 a.m.: crash toll raised with 18 dead

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, 42, his first deputy Yevgeny Ienin, 42, and other senior ministry officials on board the plane also died, said a national police statement.

Authorities have announced the death toll has risen to 18 including three children. According to the regional governor, 29 people were injured including 15 children.

• 9:30 a.m.: “Peace talks with Zelensky are out of the question”, says Lavrov

The foreign minister told a news conference in Moscow that there were currently “no serious peace proposals” from Ukraine.

• 09:20:16 dead, including two children and the Minister of the Interior, in a helicopter crash near Kyiv

Ukraine’s interior minister was present at the helicopter that crashed in Brovary, Kyiv region, police said, adding that the crash killed 16 people, including two children. Nine of the victims were aboard the helicopter.

“We have information about 16 deaths including two children,” police said in a statement. The interior minister, his first deputy and other senior officials on board were also killed, the statement said.

At least 22 people were injured, including 10 children.

• 08:44: Helicopter crashes near school in Kyiv region, fatalities (authorities)

A helicopter crashed near a kindergarten in the Kyiv region, announced the presidency of Ukraine, citing the “victims” in this accident.

“In the city of Brovary (eastern suburb of Kyiv, editor’s note), a helicopter crashed near a kindergarten and an apartment building (…) There were victims”, the head of Administration Vice President Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram. “Ambulances, police and firefighters are working at the crash site,” he added.

• 08:32: “The attack that rocked Ukraine and caused great outrage”

Our correspondent in Kyiv, Gulliver Cragg, explained that the Russian attack on the Dnipro, which was “the worst Russian attack carried out in Ukraine on a structure far from the front line”, had “caused enormous outrage” and strengthened “the motivations of Ukrainians to get more military aid from its allies”.

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• 01:13: The Netherlands wants to help Ukraine equip itself with the Patriot defense system

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced his “intention” to help Ukraine equip itself with the Patriot air defense system during a visit to Washington.

“We intend to partner with what you did with Germany on the Patriot project,” he said at the White House during an interview with US President Joe Biden, indicating that he had also exchanged views with Chancellor Olaf Scholz “this morning” on the matter. .

The Netherlands is equipped with Patriot systems but can only deliver a portion of this American-made air defense equipment to Kyiv. “It’s not necessarily the whole system,” Mark Rutte told CNN. It could also be equipment that is part of the system, he said, also referring to assistance with interoperability and training.

• 12:22 p.m.: Russian officials deny discussing a prisoner swap between Moscow and Kyiv

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova has denied discussing a prisoner swap with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitro Loubinets, in Turkey last week.

Turkish mediator Seref Malkoc said on Monday that Ukraine handed over a list of 800 names to Russia and Russian mediators in turn provided a list of 200 names.

“No exchange was mentioned during the negotiations in which I took part in Ankara with the Ukrainian mediator Dmitro Loubinets, and I emphasized that this question is within the competence of the Minister of Defense of Russia,” Tatiana Moskalkova said on Telegram. “On top of that, I don’t think such an unequal exchange can be considered fair.”

With AFP and Reuters