Helicopter crash near kindergarten in Kyiv suburb of Brovary: Interior Ministry leadership killed. What is known so far

A helicopter of the State Emergency Service ES-225 (tail number 54) crashed in the town of Brovary in Kyiv Oblast at about 8:20 a.m. Children and staff were in the kindergarten near where it happened.

The State Emergency Service reported that the helicopter crash damaged the kindergarten building with subsequent fire, the glazing in a 14-story residential building, and three cars. The fire was extinguished at 9:28 a.m.

Who was on board?

Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said that the crash killed the leadership of the Interior Ministry: Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, First Deputy Minister Yevhenii Yenin, and State Secretary of the Interior Yuriy Lubkovych. They were on board the helicopter along with three people from the Interior Ministry's task force and three members of the State Emergency Service crew. All of them were killed.

The victims include Tetiana Shutyak, deputy head of the Patronage Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mykhailo Pavlushko, head of one of the offices of the Internal Security Department of the National Police, Mykola Anatskyi, leading inspector of the Communication Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and crew members: instructor Oleksandr Vasylenko, pilot Kostyantyn Kovalenko, and flight mechanic Ivan Kasyanov.

The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was flying in a helicopter on an official trip to one of the hot spots, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the President's Office. They were supposed to meet with the head of the Kharkiv regional police, Volodymyr Tymoshko.

Consequences of helicopter crash

Data on the victims is constantly being updated. As of 2 p.m., 17 people have been reported dead, including four children and nine people on board. Another 25 people are in medical institutions, including 11 children. Several people are in intensive care.

Search operations are ongoing, 65 rescuers and 12 pieces of equipment are engaged. The fate of one child remains unknown.

Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin noted that investigators and experts are working at the scene of the tragedy.

"Urgent investigative actions are underway. We are currently considering all possible lines of inquiry into the helicopter crash. The pre-trial investigation has been entrusted to the SBU investigators," he said in a statement.

What caused the crash?

Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, emphasized during the national telethon that it was too early to talk about the cause of the helicopter crash in Brovary. He explained that there are several factors that could have caused the tragedy.

"The commission will investigate the causes. It won't take one or two days, because the investigation of a helicopter crash takes time. I think a state commission will be set up, which will include various aviation experts. They will investigate the causes of what happened and what factors influenced the helicopter to crash," he said.

Ihnat added that it is necessary to study all the information, including radio communications and the technical condition of the helicopter. According to him, this will take at least several weeks, as a technical investigation takes time.

Vadym Denysenko, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, called on the police to provide videos, testimonies – everything that anyone heard, saw, or filmed.

Zelenskyy's reaction

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police, and other agencies to investigate all the circumstances of the helicopter crash in Brovary.

National Police chief Ihor Klymenko has been promoted to deputy interior minister and will be the acting head of the department for the time being. Currently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is operating as usual, continuing to ensure security in cities and on the defense borders of Ukraine.

The world's reaction

President of the European Council Charles Michel expressed his condolences over the deadly crash in Brovary: "Minister Denys Monastyrskyi was a great friend of the EU. We share our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, President Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Shmyhal and the people of Ukraine."

Condolences have also been expressed by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas, and Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs.