Ukrainian Ministers Killed In A Helicopter Incident
Zelenskyy makes an address at Davos, during the World Economic Forum
The day began with a tragic incident where a helicopter crashed into a kindergarten in Brovary, just outside of Kyiv where three Ukrainian ministers and children were killed. This is an ongoing situation, so the death toll may rise as the injured are in hospital, and there isn’t enough information at present to state what happened.
Was it an accident, was there sabotage/ malfunction, or was there an attack? We shall have to wait and see, but it reminds us that each day the Ukrainian ministers risk their lives travelling around to support the country and to gain support from the allies.
The helicopter was on the way to Kharkiv, and crashed about 8.30 am local time just as children were arriving to the kindergarten.
Many believe that Russia is planning a new offensive, and even Stoltenbeg (for NATO) has stated that Ukraine must be given more weapons if there is to be a negotiated peace deal.
President Putin has shown no sign of preparing for peace, and therefore he must realise he cannot win on the battlefield. (Stoltenberg)
Day 329 (18 January 2023)
The news has been dominated by the deaths of the Ukrainian ministers on the helicopter that was bound for Kharkiv. The helicopter was flying low to avoid being detected and being attacked by missiles, and the weather was said to have bene cloudy this morning in Kyiv.
To date, 14 people have died, with 25 injured.
Denys Monastyrsky, the Minister for Internal Affairs was killed along with eight other members of staff.
Yevhen Yenin, the first deputy minister to Monastyrsky was also killed.
State Secretary, Yuri Lubkovich also died.
Zelenskyy made an address at Davos, and asked for a minute of silence to honour those who died earlier in the day. They lost their lives because they were fighting the war, Zelenskyy has said, as tributes to the ministers were made from their colleagues, and world leaders sent their condolences.
It was not us who started the war, but it is us who will have to end it. (Zelenskyy)
Olena Zelenska is attending Davos and has made a speech criticising the lack of aid from some western countries. She has stated that Ukrainians are starving and with the energy infrastructure damaged, Ukrainians are suffering from a Russian made humanitarian crisis.
Scholz for Germany has not mentioned whether they will give permission for the Leopard tanks to be exported to Ukraine form Poland. A former NATO Secretary General (Anders Foch Rasmussen) has criticised Germany for allowing the war to escalate by hesitating.
Henry Kissinger has done a u-turn on stating that Ukraine should not be a member of NATO, instead saying that this is the only way to prevent the Russians invading Ukraine again, and is the only way to get a negotiated peace settlement. He seems to finally accept that ceding land will make no difference to Russia in a peace deal. His previous concept of a neutral Ukraine he accepts ‘no longer makes sense’. Actually, it never made sense as to leave Ukraine defenceless would be foolhardy
The Netherlands are the third country to send a Patriot defence system to Ukraine.
An interim interior minister has been appointed by the Prime Minster since the death of Monastyrsky. Ihor Klymenko, the head of the National Police will take over the role for now.
The US will send $125 million to assist in the restoration of the energy infrastructure damaged by Russian missiles. There are reports that the US will send in long range missiles (that have been requested for months) to help defend Ukraine, and that can be launched from the Black Sea,
The Mayor of Brovary, Ihor Sapozhko, has declared a 3 day mourning period after the helicopter crash that took 14 lives
.