Last minute: Helicopter crashed next to kindergarten in Ukraine: Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine died

A helicopter crashed next to a kindergarten and a building in the city of Brovary in the Kyiv region of Ukraine. After the accident, the fire broke out, ambulance, police and fire crews were sent to the region.

According to initial reports, 16 people died. It was announced that two of the dead were children, and 22 injured people were treated at the hospital.

UKRAINE MINISTER OF INTERIOR DIED

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky is among the dead. Ukrainian National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said that State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yurii Lubkovych was also killed.

Eight people were on board, including Minister Denys Monastyrsky.

In the statement made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, it was stated that the causes of the tragedy were investigated by the inspectors and said, “We will learn whether it is sabotage or malfunction.”

Monastyrsky became the highest-ranking Ukrainian official to die since the Russian invasion, which began on February 24, 2022, at the behest of Russian President Putin.

Monastyrsky, who took the seat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2021, was 42 years old. Kyiv Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said in a statement on his social media account, “There were students and staff in the kindergarten at the time of the accident. Everyone has been evacuated,” he said.

FIRST STATEMENT FROM ZELENSKI

Ukrainian leader Zelensky described the incident as a “terrible tragedy”. Zelenski, who made statements on Telegram, used the following statements;

Today a terrible tragedy took place in the Kyiv region of Brovary. A helicopter belonging to the State Emergency Service crashed, a fire broke out at the accident site. Among the dead are Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrskyy, his first deputy Yevhen Yenn, State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yuri Lubkovych, his deputies and helicopter crew.’

Zelenski added that he had ordered authorities to investigate the incident.

Accident or Assassination?

There is no official explanation yet as to why the helicopter crashed. Abdullah Ağar, an expert on terrorism and security, said, ‘The death of a minister is an extremely big event for Ukraine’ and made the following assessment about the event;

‘Data is limited. We are all trying to learn. It has to be related. First of all, the possibility of being shot comes to mind because of the accident and war environment. Could it be another possibility that it was subject to sabotage? Obviously it’s all possible. It may have caused some discomfort in itself at a time when some sabotage started to be talked about. In the negotiations held in Belarus, some of them were labeled as traitors and the Ukrainian side carried out executions. Could something like this happen? At this stage we have to think of it as a possibility.’

Agar said, ‘It is possible that the helicopter crashed due to piloting error or technical error’ and continued his words as follows;

‘Any way you look at it, it’s a big event. Because the Ministry of Interior and its subordinates are in the war itself.’

PUTIN DECLARED A truce

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine, effective from January 6 at 12:00 CET.

Declaring this truce so that the Orthodox could celebrate Christmas, Russia invited Ukraine to join the truce, but Kiev refused this request.