Breaking News: Ukraine Helicopter Crash Kills 16, Including Interior Minister

A helicopter crash in a Kyiv suburb Wednesday killed 17 people, including Ukraine’s interior minister and two children, Ukrainian authorities said.

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, his deputy Yevhen Yenin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yurii Lubkovych were among those killed, according to Ihor Klymenko, chief of Ukraine’s National Police.

In a video that circulated online from the aftermath of the incident, cries could be heard at the scene which was consumed by a fire.

Monastyrsky, a 42-year-old father of two, was appointed interior minister in 2021.

Nine of those killed were aboard the emergency services helicopter that crashed in Brovary, an eastern suburb of the Ukrainian capital, Klymenko said.

There was no immediate word on whether the crash was an accident or a result of the almost 11-month war with Russia.

A total of 22 people were injured, including 10 children. Earlier, officials and media reports said the helicopter crashed near a kindergarten.