Denys Monastyrsky's death was confirmed by Ukraine's police chief Ihor Klymenko, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Klymenko wrote on Facebook: "This morning, on January 18, a helicopter of Ukraine's State Emergency Service crashed to the ground in the city of Brovary."
He added: "The leadership of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry died in the disaster: the interior minister, his first deputy and a deputy minister.”
16 killed, including 2 children, 22 hospitalised
Klymenko said that 16 people were killed in the crash, including two children. He added that nine of the casualties had been on board the helicopter when it went down.
“Twenty-two people, including 10 children, have been taken to hospital,” Klymenko also said.
The helicopter is reported to have crashed to the ground near a kindergarten in Brovary, which is part of the Kyiv conurbation, the PAP news agency reported.
Denys Monastyrsky dies
The 42-year-old Monastyrsky, a lawyer and a politician, became Ukraine’s interior minister in July 2021.
On December 28, Monastyrsky and his first deputy Yevhen Yenin, who was also killed in Wednesday’s crash, visited Poland, meeting with Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński and police chief Jarosław Szymczyk.
Following news of the disaster, Poland’s Szymczyk posted a message of condolence on Twitter.
Polish Police wrote: “Poland's Police Chief, on behalf of himself, the leadership of the Polish police, police officers and civilian staff, would like to offer our sincere condolences to our Ukrainian Brothers regarding today’s helicopter crash near Kyiv, in which 16 people died, including the leadership of Ukraine’s interior ministry.”
Wednesday is day 329 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, BBC