On 18 January 2023, a Ukrainian

Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma The Airbus Helicopters H225 (formerly Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma) is a long-range passenger transport helicopter developed by Eurocopter as the next generation of the civilian Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma, Super Puma family. It is a twin-engine ...

carrying ten people, including Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs

Denys Monastyrsky Denys Anatoliiovych Monastyrsky (, ; 12 June 1980 – 18 January 2023) was a Ukrainian lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine from 16 July 2021 until his death in a helicopter crash on 18 January 2023.

, his deputy

Yevhen Yenin Yevhen Volodymyrovych Yenin (, sometimes Yevheniy, ; 19 November 1980 – 18 January 2023) was a Ukrainian diplomat and lawyer who served as the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs from 2021 until his death in a helicopter crash in 2023.

, and State Secretary

Yurii Lubkovych Yurii Olehovych Lubkovych (; 31 May 1989 – 18 January 2023) was a Ukrainian diplomat who served as the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from 2021 until his death in 2023.Brovary Brovary (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kyiv Oblast, northern Ukraine, situated to the east of the capital Kyiv and part of the Kyiv metropolitan area. It serves as the administrative centre of Brovary Raion. Brovary hosts t ...

, a suburb of

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, Ukraine. The crash killed fourteen people, including Monastyrsky, Yenin, and Lubkovych. Four of the victims were killed on the ground, including one child. Twenty-five other people were injured on the ground, including eleven children.

Crash

Video taken at the crash scene, thumbtime=42 According to

Kyrylo Tymoshenko Kyrylo Vladlenovych Tymoshenko (; born April 20, 1989) is a Ukrainian politician who served as deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine from May 21, 2019, to January 23, 2023. He was coordinator of Ukraine's Large Constructi ...

, deputy head of the

Office of the President of Ukraine The Office of the President of Ukraine (, ), formerly the ''Administration of the President of Ukraine'' ( ), is a standing advisory body set up by the President of Ukraine pursuant to clause 28, Article 106 of the Constitution of Ukraine. The ...

, the officials onboard had been traveling to a combat zone when the helicopter plunged to the ground at 08:20 EET. Eyewitnesses described foggy conditions at the time of the crash, and some reported seeing the helicopter on fire, spinning with its pylon and tail rotor missing, and circling before it hit the ground. The helicopter came to rest against a local kindergarten, resulting in a fire that charred the side of the building. Search and rescue efforts ended later that day, after nearly nine hours. Twenty-five people on the ground were taken to Brovary City Hospital, of whom eight were later transferred to a specialized burn unit in

. Though none were in critical condition, the Ministry of Health later announced that six of the patients would be sent abroad for further treatment.

Aircraft

The helicopter involved in the crash was a

, also known as Airbus H225, with identification number 54. It belonged to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service and was one of the 21 model H225 helicopters delivered by France between 2018 and 2021, as part of a program to modernize Ukraine's aging Soviet aircraft fleet. Nearly half of the delivered aircraft were used, with some of the parts having a wear rate of 50%, but they were refurbished before being put into operation.

Passengers and crew

Seven passengers and three crew members were aboard the helicopter when it crashed. All seven passengers were employees of the

Interior Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

, including Interior Minister

, his deputy

, State Secretary

Investigation

There was no indication that the crash was anything other than an accident, although officials gave no immediate account of the cause of the crash. In an address following the incident,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Zelenskyy said he had asked the SBU state security service to launch a criminal probe into the cause. Several possible causes are under investigation, including a breach of

flight rules Flight rules are regulations and procedures adopted for flying aircraft in various conditions. Flight rule regimes include: * Instrument flight rules, regulations and procedures for flying aircraft by referring only to the aircraft instrument panel ...

, technical malfunction, and intentional destruction or

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

of the helicopter. Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson of the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Fo ...

, announced that the incident would also be investigated by a special state commission, a probe expected to take at least several weeks. On 3 August, the

State Bureau of Investigation A state bureau of investigation (SBI) is a state-level detective agency in the United States. They are plainclothes agencies that usually investigate criminal cases involving the state and/or multiple jurisdictions. They also typically provide ...

of Ukraine announced that five State Emergency Service employees had been charged with safety violations and negligence regarding the crash, namely the head of the service's Department of Aviation and Air Search and Rescue, its acting commander, the commander of the aviation squadron, the deputy commander for flight training, and the head of the flight safety service of the Special aviation unit from

Nizhyn Nizhyn (, ; ) is a city located in Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine along the Oster River. The city is located north-east of the national capital Kyiv. Nizhyn serves as the capital city, administrative center of Nizhyn Raion. It hosts the ...

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast (), also referred to as Chernihivshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northern Ukraine. The capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv. There are 1,511 sett ...

Reactions

The government appointed

Ihor Klymenko Ihor Volodymyrovych Klymenko (, ; born 25 October 1972) is a Ukrainian police general serving as the minister of internal affairs since 7 February 2023 (acting since 18 January). He succeeded Denys Monastyrsky following his death in a helicop ...

, chief of the

National Police of Ukraine The National Police of Ukraine (, ; /NPU ), often simply referred to as the (), is the national, and only, police service of Ukraine. It was formed on 3 July 2015, as part of the post-Euromaidan reforms launched by Ukrainian president Petro Por ...

, as acting interior minister until a new interior minister is appointed, he was later retained as the permanent interior minister. Many Ukrainian, European, and American officials paid tributes to the victims and expressed condolences, including Ukrainian president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

Ukrainian prime minister The prime minister of Ukraine (, , ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government. Following the 1991 D ...

Denys Shmyhal Denys Anatoliiovych Shmyhal (, ; born 15 October 1975) is a Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur who has served as the 18th and current prime minister of Ukraine since 2020. Before his appointment as prime minister, Shmyhal was the governor ...

, Ukrainian foreign minister

Dmytro Kuleba Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba ( ; born 19 April 1981) is a Ukrainian politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was concurrently a member of the National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine. The youngest foreign affai ...

, Ukrainian parliament chairman

Ruslan Stefanchuk Ruslan Oleksiyovych Stefanchuk (; born 29 October 1975) is a Ukrainian politician and lawyer serving as the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada since October 2021. Stefanchuk was touted as the ideologue of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's election campaign in ...

, European Council President

Charles Michel Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician who served as the president of the European Council from 2019 to 2024. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Belgium, prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019. Miche ...

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink, and UK ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brovary helicopter crash, 2023 2023 disasters in Ukraine Accidents and incidents involving the Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma Articles containing video clips Aviation accidents and incidents in 2023 Aviation accidents and incidents in Ukraine Brovary 21st century in Kyiv Oblast January 2023 in Ukraine State Emergency Service of Ukraine Transport in Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast in the Russian invasion of Ukraine