Helicopter crashes near kindergarten in Brovary, kills 14, including child and Interior Minister
On the morning of Wednesday, January 18, a helicopter carrying the leadership team of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry crashed in a residential area in the city of Brovary in Kyiv region. The helicopter went down near a kindergarten. Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi and a child are among at least 14 people who died in the crash.
Head of the Kyiv regional military administration Oleksiy Kuleba confirmed that the aircraft landed near a kindergarten and a residential building. At the time of the tragedy, there were children and the staff in the kindergarten, he said.
The helicopter that came down in Brovary was is service with Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, First Deputy Minister Yevhen Yenin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lubkovych were among the dead. The officials on the helicopter were due to visit Kharkiv region.
There were conflicting accounts of the toll during the day. The latest information said that 14 people, including a child, were killed. In the initial hours after the crash, official sources put the number of dead at 17 to 18, including four children. All nine people who were on board the helicopter were killed. Twenty-five people remain hospitalized, including 10 children.
The Ukrainian government appointed Ihor Klymenko, the chief of Ukraine’s National Police, as the acting Minister of Internal Affairs.
Mayor of Brovary Ihor Sapozhko declared three official days of mourning. He extended condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. “A dark day… There are no words to express the pain of loss… Sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims… Wishing soft clouds to the little angel Milanka… May they rest in peace and eternal be their memory…” Saposhko said on Telegram.
At Davos, Zelenskyi calls to outpace Russia’s next attacks
In an address via video link to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyi called on the world to be quicker and more decisive to outpace Russia’s next aggressive steps and end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking in English to those in attendance at the “Restoring Security and Peace” session, Zelenskyi said: “Three years ago was my first time at the World Economic Forum. It was the time when the world was fighting Covid-19. It fought and won.”
“Now the world is fighting against Putin. In three years, we will be discussing new challenges and threats in Davos. What will this mean? It will mean we will definitely overcome the current threat.”
“The history repeats itself. At first, the world either fails to notice or underestimates a threat. Then it unites to resist it. And then the world wins. Every time the same outcome.“
“The world overcame Nazism, apartheid, pandemics, indifference to climate changes, financial crises, and the Kremlin strain. The world will overcome again.”
“This is how much can be said in a matter of minutes. This is how much can be understood in a matter of minutes. The world will overcome again. The time is high to make it happen faster.”
Canada to donate 200 Senator APCs to Ukraine, Canada’s Defense Minister announces in Kyiv
Canada’s Defense Minister Anita Anand visited Kyiv on Wednesday, January 18. She announced that Canada will donate 200 Roshel Senator armored personnel carriers to Ukraine.
Anand met with Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov. She reiterated that Canada will continue to provide Ukraine with the “defensive capabilities that it needs to fight and win”. Canada’s Defense Minister strongly condemned Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukrainian population centres and critical infrastructure. The ministers also discussed their upcoming participation in this week’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group scheduled for Friday, January 20 at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
The new package of Canada’s military assistance that includes the Senator vehicles “responds to a specific Ukrainian request for these vehicles,” Anand said. This aid is valued at over CAD 90 million and is allocated as part of the additional CAD 500 million in military aid for Ukraine announced by Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau in November 2022.
