Ukrainian interior minister Denys Monastyrskyy is among 18 victims of a helicopter crash near a nursery outside the capital, Kyiv.
At least three children and two top officials – Monastyrskyy’s deputy Yevhen Yenin and interior ministry state secretary Yurii Lubkovich – were among those who died in the disaster.
There was no immediate word on whether the crash was an accident or a result of the war with Russia. No fighting has been reported recently in the Kyiv area.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is a step closer to winning approval for German-made modern battle tanks and has secured pledges for more Patriot defence missiles.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to speak to the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday via video link.
Lavrov compares Western intervention to Hitler’s ‘final solution’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the US had assembled a coalition of European countries to solve “the Russian question” in the same way Adolf Hitler had sought a “final solution” to eradicate Europe’s Jews.
Using Ukraine as a proxy, he said, “they are waging war against our country with the same task: the ‘final solution’ of the Russian question”.
“Just as Hitler wanted a ‘final solution’ to the Jewish question, now, if you read Western politicians … they clearly say Russia must suffer a strategic defeat.”
Lavrov came under fire last May after he said the Nazi leader had had “Jewish blood”, drawing angry protests from Israel.
The ‘Final Solution’ was Hitler’s Holocaust blueprint, which led to the systematic murder of 6 million Jews, as well as members of other minorities.
Rescue operation underway in Brovary: Ukrainian official
On Telegram, The head of Kyiv’s regional military administration, Oleksiy Kuleba, said a rescue operation is currently underway at the site of the helicopter crash in Brovary.
He wrote, “In Brovary, a rescue operation is underway at the scene of the tragedy. Debris analysis is underway.”
“Children from the kindergarten are in another educational institution, and the relevant services work with them. The circumstances of the disaster are currently being investigated,” he added.
Putin could announce a second wave of mobilisation soon: Analysts
Putin could announce a second wave of mobilisation against Ukraine in the coming days, according to the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
This could come as soon as Wednesday, as the Kremlin leader is set to attend celebrations in St Petersburg to mark the breaking of the siege by German troops in January 1944.
The ISW speculates, citing Russian bloggers, that Putin could officially declare war on Ukraine.
Until now, the invasion has been described within Russia as a “special military operation,” with the term “war” forbidden and punishable under Russian criminal law.
The report added that Ukrainian and Western intelligence services have repeatedly warned of Putin’s plans for a second mobilisation in mid-January.
Who was Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy?
Eighteen people, including Ukraine’s interior minister and other senior ministry officials, were killed when a helicopter crashed near a nursery outside Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.
Who was Denys Monastyrskyy?
Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi was appointed under Zelenskyy in 2021 and was a prominent cabinet figure.
Monastyrsky, responsible for the police and security inside Ukraine, is the most senior Ukrainian official to have died since the war began.
He was in his early forties and studied law before entering politics.
He is survived by two children.
‘A huge blow to the country’: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler, reporting from Kyiv, says the deaths in the helicopter crash outside Kyiv are a “huge blow” for the country “on a government level”.
“This is Ukraine’s interior minister, one of the highest posts in the country; his deputy,” Butler said.
“These are key figures in Ukraine’s government at a time when the government is at war with Russia, so this will be a huge blow to the country no doubt. You can only imagine some of the conversations happening right now, in Kyiv in those government circles as to what’s going to happen next.”
Brovary crash that killed Ukrainian officials ‘suspicious’: Analyst
Poor visibility in Brovary may have been a factor behind the crash of the helicopter that killed at least 16 people, Peter Zalmayev has told Al Jazeera.
However, the incident was “very suspicious, I would not rule out a possible terrorist act by the Russian Federation,” the analyst at the Eurasia Democracy Initiative said.
Helicopter pilots know the area they fly in and the potential obstacles regardless of weather conditions, according to Zalmayev. The Ukrainian government was also avoiding commenting on the nature of the mission that required the presence of senior interior ministry officials aboard the helicopter.
Russia says it sees no serious proposals for peace in Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Moscow is yet to see any serious proposals for peace in Ukraine and that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ideas on the subject were unacceptable.
Lavrov said Moscow stood ready to discuss the conflict with Western countries and to respond to any serious proposals, but that any talks needed to address Russia’s wider security concerns.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov called again for NATO to remove its “military infrastructure” from Ukraine and other countries close to Russia’s borders.
Russia’s Lavrov blames Ukraine conflict on US ‘hybrid war’ against Moscow
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the United States of preparing the ground for the conflict in Ukraine as part of what he called a “hybrid war” against Moscow.
Speaking at a news conference in the Russian capital, Lavrov said the crisis in Ukraine started long before Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into the country last February in what the Kremlin called a “special military operation”.
Interior minister, senior officials among victims in Brovary
Sixteen people including Ukraine’s interior minister and other senior ministry officials have been killed as an emergency services helicopter crashed in Brovary, the National Police chief has said.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy and his deputy, Yevheniy Yenin, were among the casualties, police said on Facebook. State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yurii Lubkovych was also killed, Ihor Klymenko said.
Klymenko added that two children died and 10 of them were in hospital. Nine of those killed were on board the emergency services helicopter that crashed in Kyiv’s eastern suburb. A total of 22 people were injured, including 10 children.
Casualties as aircraft crashes near nursery outside Kyiv: Official
An aircraft has crashed near a nursery outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, causing casualties, the regional governor said.
“In the city of Brovary, a helicopter fell near a kindergarten and a residential building,” the head of the Kyiv regional administration, Oleksiy Kuleba, said on Telegram.
“Children and employees were in the kindergarten … there are casualties recorded,” he said, adding that everyone had been evacuated.
Videos shared on social media showed a burning building and an object resembling a helicopter or drone crashing into a building.
The deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, wrote on Telegram that they were in the process of “finding out information about casualties and the circumstances”.
Enormous fire spreads in Brovary after aircraft crash: AJ correspondent
An enormous fire has broken out in the middle of a residential block in Brovary after an aircraft crashed near a nursery just after 8am local time (6:00 GMT), Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said.
“Police in Brovary are reporting that at least three people have been killed and five injured,” she said. “People in the area were soon evacuated and emergency services and firefighters are at the scene.”
Footage seen by the reporter showed fire engulfing the residential tower block, which has the nursery at its centre, as panicked residents fled the area.
0 Comments