Ukraine Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy has been killed in a helicopter crash into a nursery school and residential building outside Kyiv in the town of Brovary.
Ukraine’s national police chief, Ihor Klymenko, said in a statement that the helicopter carrying Monastyrskiy also had on board his deputy minister, Yevhen Yenin and the state secretary, Yuriy Lubkovych who also died in the crash.
Klymenko said 16 people were confirmed dead, including the two children. A further 22 victims are being treated in hospital. The regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said 29 people were also hurt, including 15 children.
“There were children and … staff in the nursery at the time of this tragedy,” Kuleba wrote on Telegram.
It was not immediately clear what caused the helicopter to crash in the town of Brovary, a commuter town that was the scene of fierce fighting early in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Videos shared on social media however showed a burning building and people could be heard screaming.