Eighteen folks, together with Ukraine’s inside minister and three youngsters, have been killed when a helicopter crashed close to a nursery faculty in Kyiv on Wednesday, officers mentioned.

Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Ukrainian capital’s regional administration, mentioned on Telegram that 29 folks had additionally been wounded, together with 15 youngsters, when the helicopter crashed in Brovary, an japanese suburb.

It was not instantly clear whether or not the crash was an accident or associated to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. There has not been any combating within the Kyiv area since April, when Russian troops retreated after failing to seize the capital.

“At the moment a horrible tragedy occurred in Brovary. The ache is unspeakable. The helicopter fell on the territory of one of many kindergartens,” mentioned Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Telegram. “I’ve instructed the Safety Service of Ukraine, in co-operation with the Nationwide Police of Ukraine and different authorised our bodies, to seek out out all of the circumstances of what occurred.”

“The causes of the tragedy are being established. Whether or not it was sabotage, a technical malfunction, a violation of flight security guidelines, we’ll quickly discover out,” mentioned Anton Gerashchenko, an inside ministry adviser.

The helicopter belonged to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, which mentioned the crash occurred at 8.20am. A constructing belonging to the emergency service, a 14-storey residential constructing and three automobiles have been broken, together with the nursery faculty. A hearth broke out on the scene however was extinguished an hour later, in keeping with the SES.

Ihor Klymenko, chief of the nationwide police, wrote on Fb that Denys Monastyrsky, inside minister, in addition to his deputy Yevhen Yenin and state secretary Yuriy Lubkovich, a senior ministry official, have been killed. Zelenskyy referred to as all three “true patriots of Ukraine”.

Klymenko mentioned all 9 adults on board the helicopter when it crashed have been among the many useless. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential workplace, mentioned the officers have been on a “enterprise journey” en path to one of many “hotspots” on the frontline.

Tymoshenko referred to as for witnesses to the crash to return ahead instantly to assist make clear the circumstances of the tragedy.

Movies and images shared by authorities confirmed the smouldering wreckage of the helicopter close to the doorway of a constructing and our bodies on the bottom close by.

Yuriy Ignat, a spokesperson for the air drive, mentioned the helicopter was an AS332 Tremendous Puma that had been given to Ukraine by France. Ignat mentioned the helicopters have been supposed particularly for the SES and inside ministry and that that they had been used for duties “nearer to hostilities”.

A lawyer by coaching, Monastyrsky, 42, was born within the western metropolis of Khmelnytskyi. He was elected to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on the ticket of Zelenskyy’s Servant of the Individuals celebration in 2019, and served as chair of the parliamentary committee on regulation enforcement. He was appointed to guide the inside ministry in July 2021. He was a detailed ally of the president and made common journeys with Zelenskyy to go to front-line Ukrainian troops.

Yenin, 42, was additionally a lawyer by coaching. He labored within the safety and international intelligence service earlier than serving as a diplomat. From 2016 to 2019, he was deputy prosecutor-general, and deputy international minister from 2020 to 2021. He started his position on the inside ministry in September 2021.

Lubkovich, 33, from the western Ternopil area, was appointed to the ministry on November 17 2021.