Helicopter Crash in Ukraine Kills 14

Denys Monastyrsky, Ukraine’s interior minister, and 13 other people were killed in a helicopter crash on 18 January in Brovary, Ukraine.

As of Security Management’s press time, no details about the cause of the crash had been released.

“At least one child, other ministry officials, and helicopter crew members were also among those killed in the crash,” The Washington Post reported. Among the 25 people injured, there were 11 children, according to the country’s State Emergency Service. Officials killed in the crash included senior ministry officials Yevhen Yenin and Yuri Lubkovych.

The deaths of the three officials apparently “dealt a body blow to a government ministry that had played a critical role in the war effort,” according to The New York Times. “…Monastyrsky had been a political ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since before he took office and has served on the National Security and Defense Council, a policymaking body that sets wartime goals.”

Although the helicopter flew out on a morning with dense fog in nearby Kyiv, “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the incident could not be considered an accident because it stemmed from the war,” according to the Post. Monastyrsky, who helped develop the nation’s war policy and oversaw police and emergency personnel, was on his way to a frontline hot spot.

However, “there has been no suggestion from any Ukrainian officials about Russian involvement,” CNN reported. The country’s security services are investigating the crash and what may have caused it.

Later on Wednesday, Zelenskyy asked Ukraine’s allies to continue to support the country’s ongoing fight against Russia.

The crash is the latest tragedy in the area, which has been the target of months of Russian missile strikes.

Other developments involving the war between Russia and Ukraine include:

• The Pentagon is using a stockpile of American ammunition located in Israel to provide Ukraine with artillery shells. “The Ukraine conflict has become an artillery-driven war of attrition, with each side lobbing thousands of shells every day. Ukraine has run low on munitions for its Soviet-era weaponry and has largely shifted to firing artillery and rounds donated by the United States and other Western allies,” the New York Times reported.