The investigators handed the indictment to the court against five officials of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. They are accused of violating the safety rules of helicopter flights, on board which the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs died on January 18, 2023.
This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine (SBI).
According to the investigation, the officials violated the safety rules of the movement and operation of the rotorcraft, which resulted in the death of 14 people on January 18, 2023: the then head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky, his first deputy Yevhen Yenin, one child, and others.
Four officials of the Department of Aviation and Aviation Search of the State Emergency Service and the special aviation detachment of the operational and rescue service of the State Emergency Service were charged with violating the safety rules of air transport flights, which led to the death of people.
The head of the flight safety service of the same detachment was accused of official negligence, which caused serious consequences.
More about the case
In January 2023, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine was supposed to come to the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Despite the caveat of internal instructions and legal requirements, the State Emergency Service officials involved in transporting the delegation a helicopter that was on duty to respond to emergency situations in Kyiv and the region. There were no permits for other types of flights.
During the preparation for the flight, the crew commander was not informed about meteorological data along the entire route of the planned movement, in particular, about extremely unfavorable weather conditions over Brovary. The crew itself did not have appropriate permits to fly in difficult weather conditions and the necessary certificates. However, none of the officials responsible for flight safety canceled or postponed the flight.
Due to the weather, the helicopter flew at an extremely low altitude, which is even lower than the height of the buildings on the route. The crew commander saw an obstacle — a high-rise building and tried to fly around it, but he rose sharply, lost his orientation in space and, due to the lack of necessary skills, collided with the ground during the completion of the maneuver.
When the helicopter fell, it damaged a kindergarten, nearby buildings and parked cars.
In addition to high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, four women and a young child who had just come to kindergarten died in the plane crash. Another 31 people were also injured, including 13 children.