Denis Monastyrsky, Ukraine’s Interior Minister, was killed in a helicopter crash outside Kiev, along with 15 other individuals.
National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko confirmed the fatal incident occurred in the city of Brovary on Wednesday, without elaborating on the cause of the crash, which occurred near a kindergarten.
Klymenko claimed two children were among the dead, and that 22 people were hospitalized, including 10 children.
Monastyrsky’s first deputy minister and state secretary, who were on the State Emergency Service helicopter, were also slain.
Earlier in the day, Kiev Regional Governor Oleksiy Kuleba announced the crash of a helicopter near a nursery and a residential building.
“At the time of the tragedy, children and staff of the institution were in the kindergarten. Everyone has now been evacuated,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app, adding that paramedics and emergency personnel are working at the scene.
Videos shared on social media showed a burning building and people could be heard screaming.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, whose troops attacked Ukraine last February, and Ukrainian officials made no reference to any Russian attack in the area at the time.
