News Desk
ISLAMABAD/ KYIV: Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky and two other ministers were among at least 16 people who died after a helicopter crashed in a Kyiv suburb on Wednesday, police said.
Interior minister killed in crash
Ukrainian National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said that the plane crash killed the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – the Interior Minister, the First Deputy Minister and the State Secretary.
Klymenko earlier said that at least 16 people were killed in the helicopter crash and nine of them were aboard the helicopter when it went down near a playgroup school and residential building in the Kyiv region, according to CNN.
He said that two of those killed were children while another 22 people had been rushed to the hospital. He said that at least 10 children were among those shifted to the hospital.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian government has taken a step closer to winning approval for advancing German battle tanks to confront invading Russian armed forces. It has secured a pledge for more patriot defence modern missiles as its partners appear ready to rally for the next stage of the war.
Advance German-made tank
According to Reuters, Ukraine relied primarily on Soviet-era T-72 tank variants. German-made Leopard 2 tank, operated by armies in about 20 nations, is regarded as one of the best weapons. The German tank has a 120mm smoothbore gun and can hit targets of the enemy at a distance of up to five kilometers, and the tank weighs more than 60 tons.
The Ukrainian government said the German tanks would give its Ukraine troops the mobile firepower to drive Russian armed forces out in decisive battles. Germany has been the West’s most significant holdout on pledging the tanks, but a cabinet minister said that the issue would be the first to be decided by the new defense minister Boris Pistorius.
