Ukraine has established a commission to investigate the cause of a helicopter crash that killed 14 people, including the country’s interior minister, this week, an air force spokesman said Thursday, but it could take weeks to reach a conclusion.
The helicopter crashed near a kindergarten and residential building in Brovary, a small town outside Kiev, on Wednesday, causing heavy damage. Panic among parents and children Those who were in school. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky described it as a “terrible tragedy”.
Interior Minister Denis Monastrirski, Mr. One of Zelensky’s trusted advisers. The crash left a void at the top of the ministry as Kyiv prepares for a possible Russian attack in the spring and braces for missile and drone attacks on its energy infrastructure.
Ukraine will send 6 survivors of the accident abroad to receive treatment for their burns, Deputy Health Minister Irina Mykissak said. He said the six, including children, had “very difficult and complicated cases” after the crash, although he said in an appearance on Ukrainian television that “none of them were in critical or life-threatening condition”.
They have already been shifted to the burn unit of a hospital in the capital, he said, adding that no details of their destination have been given. In total, 25 people, including 11 children, are being treated in hospital, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Wednesday.
According to Kyrillo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, the officers on board the helicopter were traveling to a war zone. According to Ukraine’s parliament, Yevhen Yenin, first deputy minister of internal affairs, was killed; and Yuri Lubkovich, State Secretary of the Ministry.
The exact cause of the crash – mechanical failure, pilot error, environmental factors or sabotage – is unknown. Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said on Ukrainian television Thursday that the investigative team “will take a long time” to reach its conclusion.
“Every part of the helicopter has been collected, every detail can tell something, provide more information about what happened,” he said. “This is not a matter of days. It is necessary to fully establish what happened that day.
The crash comes as Kyiv renews a diplomatic push for some lethal weapons from allies worried that Ukraine’s military will not have time to break a standoff with Russian forces before Moscow launches another ground offensive.
The most senior Ukrainian government official to die since Russia invaded in February, Mr. Monastryrski oversaw tens of thousands of Ukrainians fighting to defend their country as part of the police, national security and border units.
He directed rescue and recovery efforts in Dnipro this week Russian missile kills 45 One of the deadliest attacks on civilians in nearly a year of war.
In his late night speech on Wednesday, Mr. Zelensky, Mr. Monastirsky said his responsibilities had been reassigned and the country’s national police chief, Ihor Klymenko, would lead the ministry until a replacement was chosen.