Ukraine appoints acting interior minister after helicopter crash

Former head of Ukraine's National Police and current acting interior minister of Ukraine Igor Klymenko holds a press conference in Kiev on Aug 3, 2021. (GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)

KIEV – The Ukrainian government on Wednesday appointed Igor Klymenko, chief of the National Police, as the acting interior minister, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The appointment was made following the death of Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky in a helicopter crash earlier in the day.

The latest data from the State Service for Emergencies suggested that 14 people were killed and 25 others were injured in the crash

An EC 225 Super Puma helicopter went down on Wednesday morning near a kindergarten in the residential district of Brovary, a town in the suburbs of Kiev, causing a fire in an area of 500 square meters.

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The crash killed all nine people on board the helicopter, including Monastyrsky, his deputy Yevhen Yenin, and State Secretary of the Interior Ministry Yuriy Lubkovych.
The latest data from the State Service for Emergencies suggested that 14 people were killed and 25 others were injured in the crash. Earlier, officials gave an initial death toll of 18.
The government has decided to set up a special working group to investigate the crash, Shmyhal said.

Separately, Canada will donate 200 Senator Armoured Personnel Carriers to Ukraine as a new package of military assistance, Defence Minister Anita Anand announced Wednesday, Xinhua reports from Ottawa.

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According to a press release issued by the Defence Ministry, Anand made the announcement during her visit to Kyiv and these vehicles, which are being purchased from Roshel, a Canadian company based in Ontario, are valued at over 90 million Canadian dollars ($72 million).

Canada's military assistance committed to Ukraine since February 2022 includes a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System with associated munitions, 39 armoured combat support vehicles, anti-tank weapons, M777 Howitzers and associated ammunition, according to the release.

Approximately 230 Canadian Armed Forces personnel are currently deployed on Operation UNIFIER, Canada's training mission for Ukrainian personnel, which has trained over 35,000 Ukrainian security forces personnel since its launch in 2015, according to the release.