The Officials Who Died in the Brovary Helicopter Crash

On early Wednesday morning, Jan. 18, in the Kyiv suburb of Brovary, a helicopter carrying nine people crashed. It fell near a residential building and a kindergarten. According to preliminary data, 17 people died, including 4 children. Among the dead are Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky, First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Yevheny Yenin, and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lubkovich. They were reportedly flying out to Kharkiv region. An investigation is establishing why the aircraft fell.

Denys Monastyrsky, 42 years old

Denys Monastyrsky took the helm of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in July 2021. He was appointed after the dismissal of Arsen Avakov, who held this position for seven years. Monastyrsky was a people's deputy from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party, Servant of the People. He was engaged in reforming the law enforcement system.

From the beginning of the war, his duty was to reorganize the National Police, which should control law and order on the territory of Ukraine, as well as in the de-occupied territories. Polls about the effectiveness of the police showed an increase in trust among society from 30% to 58%.

The MIA also includes the organization of the work of the State Border Service of Ukraine and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. Each of these structures demonstrated effective work during the war – in protecting the country's borders, clearing mines, deploying points of invincibility, etc.

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The minister believed in the victory of Ukraine and paid a lot of attention to the safety of citizens.

"Only in unity will we win this war. In unity of local self-government and central government. In unity of defense forces that stand side by side. In unity of volunteer organizations that help the army, police and rescuers. In unity of countries that now are open to Ukraine and help as much as possible. This is the secret of our success and our victory," Denys Monastyrsky said.

Yevheny Yenin, 42 years old

Yenin started working with Monastyrsky in the fall of 2021. He was appointed deputy minister. He had diplomatic work experience. It is known that Yenin was part of the Ukrainian delegation on the issues of unrecognized Transnistria. He was involved in the process of minimizing risks for Ukraine due to the Transnistrian conflict, which was organized by Russia.

While working at the General Prosecutor's Office, Yenin was involved in the search and return to Ukraine of officials who fled the country after 2014.

He was also charged by President Zelensky in May 2020 to work on cases of Ukraine against Russia in international courts.

In the MIA, he was responsible for reforms. His appointment was called one of the successful ones.

"We see that the enemy underestimated the spirit of the Ukrainians. It became clear that we cannot be defeated by numbers or weapons alone. It seems naive to guarantee that someone will abandon the decision to capture Kyiv or Ukraine. And this probably will not happen even when the war ends. With such neighbors by your side, it is better to permanently prepare for aggression and build up your power so that the aggressors and their accomplices are simply afraid to poke their noses in. When the war ends, we will still have to prepare for new invasions. Neighbors are not chosen,” Yenin commented in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

Yuriy Lubkovich, 33 years old

Lubkovich was born in Ternopil, where he began his career. He was appointed State Secretary of the MIA a few months before the war with Russia, in November 2021.

For the last 10 years, he worked in the civil service.