The helicopter carrying Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, which crashed near kyiv killing at least 18 people, was on its way to the front line, the Ukrainian presidency revealed on Wednesday.
“The purpose of this flight [era ir] to one of the hot spots in our country where fighting is taking place. The interior minister was on his way,” the deputy chief of staff of the presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said on Ukrainian television.
The helicopter, which belonged to the Ukrainian Emergency Services, crashed into a kindergarten in Brovary, on the outskirts of kyiv, killing 18 people, including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, Deputy Minister Yevhen Yenin and Secretary of State Yurii Lubkovych, as well as three children.
The accident, which is being investigated leaving all possible causes open, also left 29 injured, including 15 children, who were transferred to the hospital in the area.
The Emergency Services helicopter, an agency under the Ministry of the Interior, was carrying nine people.
In reaction to the accident, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, declared herself “deeply saddened” and sent her condolences “to the families, the Government and the people of Ukraine.”
Source: TSF
