Helicopter crashes near kindergarten in Kyiv region, 14 dead identified, including Interior Ministry officials. SBU considers several versions of tragedy

At 15:20, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) reported that the bodies of 14 people, including 1 child and 9 crew members, had been found.

"Twenty-five people (including 11 children) were injured and hospitalized (information is being clarified). Search and rescue operations are ongoing in the building of the kindergarten," the press service said.

As of 14:00, the SES reported 17 dead, including 4 children and 9 people on board. Twenty-five people (including 11 children) were injured and hospitalized.

Search and rescue operations are ongoing in the building of the kindergarten, the fate of one child remains unknown. 

SES psychologists provided assistance to 51 people. The State Emergency Service involved 65 people and 12 vehicles, including a dog unit and 3 rescue units of the mobile rescue center of rapid response.  

The Ministry of Internal Affairs clarified that among the killed in the tragedy were:

• Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrskyi

• his first deputy, Yevhen Yenin

• State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lubkovych

• Deputy Head of the Patronage Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Tetiana Shutyak

• Police Lieutenant Colonel Mykhailo Pavlushko, Head of security of the Minister of Internal Affairs

• Leading Inspector of the Communication Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Mykola Anatskyi   

• Aircraft commander - instructor of the special purpose helicopter squadron Oleksandr Vasylenko

• pilot of a special purpose helicopter squadron Kostiantyn Kovalenko

• Flight mechanic of the Special Forces helicopter squadron, warrant officer of the Civil Defense Service Ivan Kasyanov

As of 13:53, the mayor of Brovary, Ihor Sapozhko, reported 16 dead, including 3 children. At that time, 24 people were taken to Brovary hospital, including 10 children. There were 8 victims in the burn center, including 4 children.

The victims were taken to the trauma and surgical departments, and one pregnant woman to the gynecological department. All the victims are being provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance,” he wrote.

Kharkiv Region Police Chief Volodymyr Tymoshko wrote on Facebook that today he was supposed to meet with Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrskyi, his deputy and the Ministry's State Secretary. He also expressed his condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims.

“Today I had to meet, I had to shake hands, I had to... see not only the leaders, no, - Friends whom I respected, whom I was waiting for. I talked yesterday, today, with everyone who was on board, I talked and left to meet, met. It is impossible to put in into words. It's impossible to just believe! An irreparable loss! There are people who leave a void after their departure! Relatives, loved ones, hold on! They would definitely want that!” Tymoshko wrote.

Espreso correspondent, Dmytro Didora, spoke with Maksym, an eyewitness to the tragedy.  He said that immediately after the helicopter fell, he ran to the kindergarten to save the children.

“At first we heard a specific sound, then a bang, I ran out into the street. The helicopter and the car were on fire. We ran to the kindergarten. We met the teacher, she was covered in blood and asked for help. We started pulling the children out of the windows of the kindergarten. We ran further and we could no longer enter,” Maksym said. 

Didora also spoke with Iryna Prianishnikova, spokeswoman of the National Police of Kyiv region. She said that a humanitarian hub was opened in the school nearby. There they provide psychological assistance, pre-medical assistance, as well as tea and coffee. 

“Among the dead are children. The police and criminal investigators are working on the spot. Ukraine's Security Service will investigate the case. Now we will identify possible witnesses to this tragedy. Videos, photos, people who may have seen it. If you were a witness, let us know. Now we will work on identifying the bodies of the dead,” she said.

Earlier, Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported that, according to updated data, 16 people, including three children, died as a result of the helicopter crash in Brovary. Also, the number of victims increased to 30. Among them, 12 were children.

At the same time, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) started a pre-trial investigation into the fact that the helicopter crashed in Brovary. Currently, law enforcement officers are considering three versions of the tragedy:

• violation of flight rules;
• technical malfunction of the helicopter;
• intentional actions to destroy a vehicle.

“Employees of Ukraine's Security Service are conducting a complex of investigative and operational measures to establish all cause-and-effect relationships and details of the tragedy,” the report says. 

The mayor of Brovary, Ihor Sapozhko, published detailed data on the tragedy as of 1:53 pm.

It is noted that 16 people died as a result of the helicopter crash, including three children. 24 people, including 10 children, were brought to the Brovary hospital. There are currently 8 victims in the burn center, including 4 children.

“16 people are currently in our hospital, and 6 of them are children. They are in the trauma and surgical departments, and one pregnant woman is in the gynecological department. All the victims are being provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance,” he wrote.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the tragedy in Brovary.

“Indescribable pain. The helicopter fell on the territory of one of the kindergartens,” he wrote.

Zelenskyy expressed his condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims. He also instructed Ukraine's Security Service, the National Police and other services to find out the circumstances of the helicopter crash.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called the death of the Minister of Internal Affairs, his deputy and the Ministry's State Secretary “a great loss for the government team and the state.” He also expressed his condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims.

“I have instructed the services to immediately set up a special group to investigate in detail all the circumstances of the tragedy,” he wrote.

“The rescue operation is underway. Most of the walls of the kindergarten are burnt out, and rescuers are trying to get the rubble out. As of now, there are 18 dead and many wounded. Among them are children. People say that the explosion was loud and that the helicopter spun several times in the air before crashing. The Prosecutor General's Office has already opened an investigation. Investigators are working at the scene, and they are establishing the consequences,” Espreso correspondent Dmytro Didora said. 

Ukraine's State Emergency Service provided information on the chronology of the events:  “On January 18, at 08:20, in Brovary, Kyiv region, as a result of the crash of a ES-225 helicopter (tail number 54), the building of a kindergarten was damaged with a subsequent fire, the glazing in a fourteen-story residential building and 3 cars. At 09:06, the fire in the building was located on an area of 500 square meters, and at 09:28 it was extinguished.”

It is noted that 9 people were on board the helicopter: 6 members of the operative group of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as 3 members of the State Emergency Service.

“127 people and 30 units of equipment were involved in the liquidation of the consequences of the emergency situation from the State Emergency Service. Psychologists of the State Emergency Service are working at the scene,” the service summarized.

Earlier, the President's Office appealed to the witnesses of the event: “A request to the witnesses of the event in Brovary to promptly contact the police. This will help in clarifying the circumstances of the tragedy.”

The Prosecutor General's Office reported that investigative actions are being carried out on the spot, and the Ukrainian Security Service investigators have been entrusted with the pre-trial investigation.

Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman of the Air Force of Ukraine's Armed Forces, said that it is too early to talk about the causes of the tragedy:

“The commission will investigate the causes, and it will not last 1-2 days, because the investigation of the helicopter crash takes some time. I think a state commission will be created, which will include various aviation experts. They will investigate the causes of what exactly had happened and what factors  influenced the fact that the helicopter fell.”

He added: it was one of the French-made rotorcraft, possibly the H225 Super Puma, which had previously been transferred to Ukraine. 

The Deputy Head of the President's Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said on the air of the telethon that the leadership of the ministry flew on a helicopter to one of the "hot" spots.

The head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, Oleksiy Kuleba reported the victims.

As of 10:30 am, the number of people killed as a result of the helicopter crash has increased to 18. Among them are three children.

The number of wounded also increased to 29.  Among them are 15 children. They are provided with medical assistance.

Earlier, Kuleba reported that the number of people killed as a result of a helicopter crash in Brovary increased to 17 people

The head of Ukraine's National Police, Ihor Klymenko reported this. 

He noted that a helicopter belonging to the State Emergency Service crashed in Brovary. It was carrying the leadership of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs, who died as a result of the accident: Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrskyi, his deputy Yevhen Yenin, and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Klymenko also added that 16 people are currently known to have died, including 2 children. Nine dead people, including the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, were on board the helicopter.

22 people, including 10 children, were injured. They are in the hospital.

Iryna Prianishnikova, spokeswoman for the Kyiv region police, said this in a comment to Suspilne. 

She noted that as a result of a helicopter crash near a kindergarten in Brovary, five people were injured. People are currently being evacuated.

Oleksii Kuleba, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, added that children and employees were in the kindergarten at the time of the tragedy. As of 09:16, everyone was evacuated.

Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko reported this earlier.

“An aircraft has just crashed into a social infrastructure facility,” he wrote.

Tymoshenko added that Ukraine's State Emergency Service and other relevant services are already working on the spot. Information about the victims and the circumstances is being clarified.

Also, the spokeswoman of the Kyiv region police confirmed the fall of the helicopters in a comment to Suspilne.