18 were killed including the Interior Minister

A helicopter crashed on the morning of Wednesday January 18 near a school in the Kyiv region, killing 18 people including the Minister of the Interior and three children, a new tragedy in Ukraine days after Russia’s deadly attack on Dnipro.

“Tragedy at Brovary. The number of victims also increased. At 10:30 a.m. (08:30 Paris time), 18 were killed including 3 children“, said the governor of the region, Oleksiï Kouleba, on Telegram. He clarified that “there were also 29 people injured, including 15 children“, raising fears of a heavier number of victims. In the images circulating on social networks, we can see the remains of a helicopter mixed with debris, near a car crushed under the weight of the metal. Firefighters and police were at the scene, according to the AFP team.

The death of the Minister of Internal Affairs on the way to the front

Among the victims were Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, 42, his first deputy Yevgeny Yenine, and Ministry of State Secretary Yuriy Lubkovych, who was on board with six other people, Ukraine’s national police chief said in a press release.

This former lawyer has been in profession since July 2021. In 2019, he became a member of the Rada, Parliament of Ukraine, under the label “people’s servant“, presidential party.

The helicopter carrying Ukraine’s interior minister is heading to the front, the Ukrainian presidency said.

“The purpose of this flight (was to go) to one of the hot spots in our country where the fighting took place. The Minister of the Interior is on his way thereKyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential cabinet, told Ukrainian television.

“big loss”

The death of the Minister of the Interior,big loss“, complained Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal. Zelensky regretted “terrible tragedy»

“Tragedy at Brovary. (…) A huge loss for the government and the whole countryUkraine, he said on Telegram, called for “the immediate creation of a special group for a detailed investigation of the circumstances of the tragedy“.

“My colleagues, my friends. What a tragic loss. Sincere condolences to their family“, reacted on Twitter to Anton Gerachtchenko, advisor to Mr. Monastyrsky.

Brovary, the key to the capital

The accident took place in Brovary, a city of about 100,000 inhabitants that touches the eastern outskirts of Kyiv. Significant fighting was fought between the Ukrainians and the Russians there as troops from Moscow tried to force a lock on the capital in the first weeks of their invasion.

Also readThe war in Ukraine: in Boutcha, a yurt plaguing the Kremlin, the story of our special correspondent in kyiv

At the time of the tragedy,children and employeesfrom the kindergarten near the crash site were at the site, said Oleksiï Kouleba. According to footage posted on social media, a large fire broke out after the helicopter crashed, with residential buildings also nearby.

Current research

No information about the cause of the tragedy was immediately released. Previously, Oleksiï Kouleba had stated that “circumstancesof this accident isunder construction“.

The plane that crashed belonged to the State Service for Emergency Situations under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force. One of the last major accidents of this type in recent years in Ukraine occurred in September 2020 when 26 people were killed in an Antonov-26 crash near Kharkiv (northeast).

New tragedy

This new tragedy comes at the height of the war with Russia, four days after the deadly attack on the Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine.

A Russian missile destroyed a residential building on Saturday, killing at least 45 people including six children, in one of the deadliest bombings since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. Youngest casualty”11 months old“, complained late Tuesday the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential cabinet, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, after more than three days of research. Under the rubble, emergency services have removed the injured, but also the lifeless bodies, which were trapped under the enormous concrete.

Clara Marchaux, correspondent in Ukraine who works regularly with Figaro.

kyiv accuses, Moscow denies

This new attack on civilian targets has caused great emotion among the Ukrainian population, as the country has been fighting against the Russian invasion for nearly 11 months, often under very difficult conditions.

Moved, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to bring to justice “everyone is guilty of these war crimes», directly pinpointing the Russian soldiers responsible for this massacre. Moscow, for its part, categorically denies any involvement in this bloody attack, as in previous episodes.

Also readThe war in Ukraine: in Boutcha, a yurt plaguing the Kremlin, the story of our special correspondent in kyiv

International reaction

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on Wednesday regretted the death of Ukraine’s Interior Minister in a helicopter crash,EU good friend», and states «deepest condolencesto the Ukrainian people. “We join in the suffering of Ukraine“, wrote on Twitter Charles Michel, who represents the EU’s 27 member states.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced that she had made an offer to Kyiv “supportfrom Germany in the survey. The collision is”bad news“, he also pointed out in the press release, saying himself very“sadby the deaths of his colleagues and collaborators and by the fact that children also died.

It shows “again the colossal price that Ukraine paid in this warsaid Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his Twitter account. “Our thoughts on this sad day are with the loved ones of the victims and the injured.” as well as to the head of state Volodymyr Zelensky “who today lost the Minister of the Interior“, he added.

“Thoughts to all the victims of this horrific event that happened near this kindergarten, to the children and familiesthe French president wrote on Twitter. “France extends its condolences to its Ukrainian friends“.

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