Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy honors Ukraine interior minister, officials killed in helicopter crash

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a memorial service over the weekend to honor the Ukrainian officials that were killed in a helicopter crash. The crash came weeks since Russian missiles bombarded a building in Dnipro.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy attended the memorial service for the seven Ukrainian officials, including interior minister Denys Monastyrsky, who were killed in a helicopter crash into a nursery in the capital Kyiv Wednesday last week. Seven other people were also killed in the crash, including one child, and officials are still investigating the cause of the crash.

Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska paid their respects to the loved ones of the victims in the Ukrainian House cultural center in Kyiv. Zelenskyy honored Monastyrsky during his Saturday video address, extending his condolences to the minister’s loved ones and noting the thousands of Ukrainians that have been killed in the 11-month-long war.

“My condolences to all relatives and friends. It hurts to think about it, it hurts to talk about it,” said Zelenskyy. “We are losing people every day, whom we will always remember and regret we can’t bring back.”

Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said Monastyrsky’s death was a “huge loss” and that had it not been for Monastyrsky, “everything could have been completely different” and that the fallen minister was a “true hero” of the country.

The helicopter crash came weeks since Russia fired rockets into a condominium building in Dnipro in the southeast.

Friday last week, Russians in St. Petersburg and the capital Moscow laid flowers on improvised memorials to pay respects to the victims of the Russian missile strike in Dnipro. Ukrainian state emergency services said Tuesday that following the search operations, 44 people were confirmed to be dead from the attack, including five children. The status of 20 other people was still unconfirmed.

Russians laid flowers and stuffed toys on the base of the monument of Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko in central St. Petersburg. According to Reuters, witnesses saw authorities repeatedly clearing away the flowers and toys at the memorials.

Protest monitoring group OVD-Info said six people were detained by authorities for laying flowers or visiting the status of Ukrainian poet and writer Larisa Kosach-Kvitka near Moscow’s Kyiv railway station.