Is Bakhmut the next target for the Russians in Ukraine?
2:35
(CNN)
A helicopter crashed near a kindergarten in the Ukrainian city of Brovary on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people, including Ukraine's interior minister, according to national police chief Ihor Klymenko.
These are the most serious attacks against civilians since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine
The crash site of a helicopter in the city of Brovary, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 18.
(Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
Nine of the victims were aboard the helicopter when it crashed, Klymenko said.
Ukraine's Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky is among the dead, it added.
"The accident killed the leaders of the Ministry of the Interior: the minister, the first deputy minister and the secretary of state," the police chief said.
'I just hate them,' says Ukrainian, reacting shocked by latest deadly Russian attack
Wreckage of the helicopter in Brovary, Ukraine, on January 18.
(Brent Swails/CNN)
The helicopter crashed near a kindergarten and a residential building, said Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv region's military administration.
“At the time of the tragedy, there were children and staff in the kindergarten.
At the moment, everyone has been evacuated, ”he wrote on Telegram.
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Kuleba said three of the dead were children.
He added that 29 people were injured, including 15 minors.
Paramedics, police and firefighters rushed to the scene.
war in ukraine