Ukraine Helicopter Crash

Ukraine's top interior ministry officials were killed yesterday morning after a government helicopter crashed near a nursery during foggy conditions in Brovary, a residential suburb east of the capital of Kyiv. At least 14 people died, including a child, and 25 were injured. It wasn't clear whether the crash was an accident or connected to the war. Officials are investigating the cause.

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi (see background), who oversaw Ukraine's police and emergency services, is the most senior official killed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. First Deputy Minister Yevhen Yenin and Internal Affairs Chief Yuri Lubkovych were also killed in the crash.

Separately, Ukrainian forces continued to fight Russia in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which has become a key battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged political leaders via video at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to send Western supplies of weapons quickly to fend off Russia's missile strikes. The US is expected to announce another military package for Ukraine.