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Polish president sends condolences after Ukraine's interior minister, others die in helicopter crash

18.01.2023 12:30
Polish President Andrzej Duda has offered his condolences after Ukraine's interior minister and 15 others were killed in a helicopter crash near Kyiv on Wednesday.
Rescuers work at the site of the helicopter crash in Brovary, near Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
Rescuers work at the site of the helicopter crash in Brovary, near Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.Photo: EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

Duda said in a tweet: "It is with deep sadness that I received information about the helicopter crash in Brovary near Kyiv which left several persons killed, including senior officials of Ukraine's Ministry of Interior."

He added: "My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims."

Poland's Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński also sent his condolences via Twitter.

"I am deeply shocked by the news of the tragic death of Minister Denys Monastyrsky and two other members of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine," Kamiński said.

He added: "I express my deepest sympathies to the families of the deceased and to all Ukrainians. Goodbye, friends."

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky's death was confirmed on Wednesday morning by the country'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.”

Klymenko said that 16 people were killed in the crash, including two children.

“Twenty-two people, including 10 children, have been taken to hospital,” Klymenko also said.

The helicopter crashed near a kindergarten and a residential building in Brovary, which is a suburb of Kyiv, according to news reports.

At least 16 people, including Ukraine's interior minister, were killed in a helicopter crash near Kyiv on Wednesday, according to officials. At least 16 people, including Ukraine's interior minister, were killed in a helicopter crash near Kyiv on Wednesday, according to officials. PAP/EPA/Sergey Dolzhenko

'We will continue our work helping Ukraine': EU commissioner 

European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said in a Twitter post that Monastyrsky was "a true Ukrainian hero" and that "working with him this past year was an honour."

Johansson said: "The EU home affairs community and Interior Affairs Ministries in all 27 capitals will feel this loss greatly."

She added: "We will continue our work helping Ukrainians and helping Ukraine, in Denys’ memory. Slava Ukraini."

In late December, Monastyrsky and his first deputy Yevhen Yenin, who was also killed in Wednesday’s crash, visited Warsaw, meeting with Poland's Kamiński and police chief Jarosław Szymczyk, the PAP news agency reported.

Following news of the disaster, Poland’s Szymczyk on Wednesday posted a message of condolence on Twitter.

He wrote: “On behalf of myself, the leadership of the Polish police, police officers and civilian staff, I would like to offer our sincere condolences 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 invasion of Ukraine.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP