On the morning of January 18, a helicopter of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine crashed in the city of Brovary, Kyiv region. As a result of the fall of the car and the scattering of debris, a fire started, including on the territory of a nearby kindergarten. The first information from the scene of the tragedy began to come from local residents in social networks, then scanty information appeared from the city and state authorities.
It has already been confirmed that high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine were on board. As a result, Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky and his deputy Yevgeny Yenin died, according to the head of the National Police Ihor Klymenko. The state secretary of the department, Yuri Lubkovich, also died. Moreover, in the first official statements, the speaker of the Air Force of Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, said that the crew was flying for official purposes to carry out some kind of rescue mission. What exactly and why it took the presence of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on board, the speaker did not say.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the deceased Minister of Internal Affairs, told what versions of the tragedy with a helicopter in Brovary are being considered by the investigation.
The causes of the tragedy are being established by investigators. Whether it was a sabotage, a technical malfunction, a violation of flight safety rules, we will soon find out.
— he wrote in his telegram channel.
At the same time, ordinary users in Ukrainian publics carefully put forward the version that the helicopter could have been shot down by the Ukrainian air defense system by mistake.
According to updated data, 18 people died as a result of the crash. Officials initially denied that there were children among the victims. Nine people were on board the helicopter, all of them, including the two pilots, were killed. 29 people were injured, including 15 children. Judging by the fact that the death toll in each new message about the tragedy is growing, some of the wounded are seriously injured.
One of the eyewitnesses told the correspondent of the Ukrainian edition that before the crash, the helicopter made strange maneuvers: it made three circles, flew to the city center, then began to decline sharply and caught fire after hitting the ground. The teacher of the affected kindergarten said that everything happened at 8 in the morning - at the time when the stage of receiving children took place. At first, she heard a strong rumble, then followed by a flash and an explosion.
The speaker of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, confirmed that the crashed helicopter was handed over to Kyiv by France. This is Super Puma, all Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have such — border guards, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard.
At a special briefing, the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said that the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs flew "to one of the hot spots where hostilities are taking place." Andrey Nebytov, Deputy Chief of Police of the Kyiv Region, added that the helicopter had been flying at low altitude for a long time. Local residents write that there was heavy fog in the city in the morning.