State Emergency Service officials accused of killing Interior Ministry leadership: case referred to court
29 August 2024 15:49
Prosecutors have sent to court an indictment against five officials of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the case of the death of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in a plane crash in Brovary on 18 January 2023. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The Prosecutor General’s Office submitted to the court an indictment against:
- head of the Aviation and Air Search and Rescue Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine;
- acting commander of a special aviation detachment;
- deputy commander for flight training;
- commander of an aviation squadron;
- the head of the flight safety service of the Special Aviation Detachment of the Civil Protection Operational Rescue Service of the SES of Ukraine from the city of Nizhyn, Chernihiv region.
The pre-trial investigation of the tragic plane crash in Brovary in January 2023 was completed by a joint interagency group of the Main Investigation Departments of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) in November 2023.
“So far, the suspects, their defence lawyers and victims have been studying the criminal case file. The investigation has established that the defendants violated the flight safety rules of the helicopter carrying the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine,” the statement said.
Circumstances of the tragedy
In early January 2023, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine was scheduled to visit Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. The SES officials engaged a helicopter that was on duty to respond to potential emergencies to transport the delegation. The aircraft had no permits for other types of flights.
In difficult weather conditions, the helicopter was flying at an extremely low altitude. According to the investigation, the crew commander, having noticed an obstacle, attempted to manoeuvre. However, due to loss of orientation and insufficient visibility, the helicopter collided with the ground.
Consequences of the tragedy
The crash caused significant damage. When the helicopter crashed, it damaged a kindergarten, neighbouring buildings and several parked cars.
The crash killed a total of 14 people and injured 31 others of varying severity.
Among the dead were Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky and his deputies. In addition to senior Interior Ministry officials, four women and a young child who had come to the kindergarten were killed. There were 13 children among the injured.
Indictments and trials
Four officials of the SES Aviation and Air Search Department and a special aviation detachment of the SES Operational Rescue Service were charged under Part 3 of Article 276 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – violation of air transport safety rules that resulted in the death of people.
In addition, the head of the flight safety service of the same unit is charged with negligence that caused grave consequences (Article 367(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
