On Wednesday morning, a helicopter crash outside of Kyiv claimed the lives of 18, including the interior minister of Ukraine, other senior ministry officials, and three children.
The helicopter crashed down in a residential neighbourhood in Brovary, on the northeastern suburbs of the capital, injuring 29, according to the regional governor, including 15 children.
Near the wrecked nursery, several bodies covered in foil blankets were lying in a courtyard. There were emergency personnel on the site. A playground was littered with trash.
Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, his first deputy Yevheniy Yenin, and other officials were slain in a state emergency service helicopter, according to national police commander Ihor Klymenko.
Authorities waited before disclosing the cause of the helicopter crash. Russia, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February of last year, made no quick comments, and local Ukrainian officials made no mention of any Russian attacks at the time.
The most senior Ukrainian official to pass away since the start of the war would be Monastyrskyi, who was in charge of the police and security inside Ukraine.
Separately, Ukraine reported heavy fighting overnight in the country’s east, where both sides had endured two months of severe trench warfare at great cost.
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The last two months have seen a hardening of the frontlines following significant Ukrainian victories in the second half of 2022. According to Kyiv, new Western armaments, particularly large tanks that would provide its troops mobility and protection to drive past Russian lines, would enable it to resume an offensive to reclaim land.
On Friday, Western allies will assemble at a U.S. air base in Germany to offer additional weaponry for Ukraine. Germany is in particular the centre of attention since it has the ability to block any decision to send its Leopard tanks, which are used by militaries all throughout Europe and are generally regarded as the most appropriate for Ukraine.
Berlin claims that Boris Pistorius, its new defence minister, will decide on the tanks as his first item on the agenda.
Britain, which over the weekend promised to send a squadron of its Challenger tanks, breached the Western taboo against sending main battle tanks, has urged Germany to permit the Leopards. If Berlin permits it, Poland and Finland have already stated that they are prepared to send Leopards.
