Ukraine interior minister, 3 children among those killed in helicopter crash

A helicopter carrying Ukrainian officials crashed near Kyiv on Wednesday, killing more than a dozen people, including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky and three children, officials said.

The big picture: Monastyrskyi, who was in charge of the country's police and emergency services, is the highest-ranking government official to die since Russia's invasion began nearly 11 months ago.

• It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash, which occurred near a nursery school in Brovary, a suburb of Kyiv. No fighting had been reported in the area at the time, AP notes.
• Kyiv Regional Governor Oleksii Kuleba put the death toll at 18, but other officials later said that at least 15 people were killed. More than two dozen people, including 10 children were injured, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram, adding that authorities were working to confirm the final death toll.
• Monastyrskyi's first deputy, Yevheniy Yenin, and the ministry's state secretary, Yuri Lubkovych, also died, Zelensky said.

What they're saying: "The pain is unspeakable," the Ukrainian president wrote on Telegram.

• Zelensky added that he has instructed authorities "to find out all the circumstances of what happened."