There was no speedy phrase on whether or not the crash, which was close to a kindergarten, was an accident or associated to the battle. No preventing has been reported not too long ago within the Kyiv space.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the crash was “a terrible tragedy” on a “black morning.”
“The pain is unspeakable,” he wrote on Telegram.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman referred to as Monastyrskyi “a leading light in supporting the Ukrainian people during Putin’s illegal invasion.”
She mentioned she was “struck by his determination, optimism and patriotism.”
Monastyrskyi’s deputy Yevhen Yenin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yurii Lubkovych have been additionally amongst these killed, in accordance with the chief of Ukraine’s National Police. Senior officers routinely journey by helicopter in the course of the battle.
Nine of these killed have been aboard the chopper when it crashed in Brovary, an japanese suburb of the Ukrainian capital, Ihor Klymenko mentioned. The others who died have been apparently on the bottom.
Kyiv Regional Governor Oleksii Kuleba mentioned 18 individuals total have been killed, together with three youngsters, and that 25 have been injured.
Ukraine’s Emergency Service, nonetheless, put the dying toll at 15. It was not instantly doable to verify if that was previous data or a revised determine.
At the scene of the crash, a minimum of 4 our bodies on the bottom have been lined by reflective sheets as officers cleared helicopter particles from a kindergarten playground. Wreckage additionally sat on high of a charred automobile and a constructing.
“It is too early to talk about the reasons,” for the crash, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Forces, Yurii Ihnat, advised a tv channel. He mentioned an investigation may take a while.
The helicopter was a Super Puma equipped by France, he added.
The Security Service of Ukraine is conducting an investigation, prosecutor common Andriy Kostin mentioned.
“For now, we are considering all possible versions of the helicopter crash accident,” he mentioned on Telegram.
The crash comes at a very darkish interval within the battle for Ukraine, simply days after the Russian strike on the house constructing in southeastern Ukraine killed 45 individuals, together with six youngsters — the deadliest assault on civilians for the reason that spring.
“Another very sad day today — new losses,” mentioned Ukraine’s first girl, Olena Zelenska, dabbing teary eyes and pinching her nostril as she responded to the news whereas on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The discussion board held 15 seconds of silence after opening the session to honor the Ukrainian officers killed.
“Haven’t had time to recover from one tragedy, there is already another one,” mentioned the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential workplace Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
