Ukraine’s Interior Minister was among at least 14 people, including a child, killed in a helicopter crash in the city of Brovary on Wednesday, according to officials.
That number has been revised down from earlier tolls.
Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi oversaw Ukraine’s police and emergency services. He is the most senior official to die since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
First Deputy Minister Yevheniy Yenin and State Secretary Yuriy Lubkovychis, as well as Anton Geraschenko, a ministry adviser, were also among those killed in the crash.
At least 30 others including 12 children have been hospitalized, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration.
Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Forces, told a television station, “It is too early to talk about the reasons” for the crash. He added that an investigation could take some time.
He also said that the helicopter was a Super Puma supplied by France.
The crash comes as Ukraine is reeling from a devastating Russian strike upon an apartment building in the southeastern city of Dnipro. The death toll there so far is 45, including at least six children, with another 79 people injured. However, that death toll could potentially rise as crews continue to search through the rubble.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the helicopter crash “a terrible tragedy” on a “black morning.” In a written statement, he added that he had ordered the Ukrainian Security Services to “find out all the circumstances.”
