Denys Monastyrskythe Interior Minister who died today aboard the helicopter that crashed in Brovary for causes yet to be defined, was a young politician of the Zelensky government: born on 12 June 1980 in Khmelnytskyi, in what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of Soviet Union, he had graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Administration and Law of his city and, after a doctorate in law, began his career as a lawyer, also heading the law department of the Khmelnytskyi University, where he worked as an associate professor.
Ukraine, helicopter crashes near a kindergarten: 16 dead including the Interior Minister
Monastyrsky was also a co-founder and board member of the Youth Cultural Association “Into the Future through Culture”. Between 2014 and 2019 Monastyrsky was assistant consultant to Anton Gerashchenko. Ahead of the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election Monastyrsky was presented as an expert on law enforcement reform by presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky’s “Team”.
Candidate with the party for Servant of the People in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary elections, he was elected to the Ukrainian Parliament becoming the head of the parliamentary law enforcement committee. On 12 July 2021, when Interior Minister Arsen Avakov resigned, Monastyrsky took over the ministry.
Monastyrskyi, who headed Ukraine’s police and other emergency services, is the highest-ranking Ukrainian official to die since the war with Russia began nearly 11 months ago. Together with him, two other prominent figures of the interior ministry were killed: Yevgeny Yen was first deputy minister while Yuriy Lubkovich he was secretary of state of the ministry. The balance of the crash speaks of 18 victims, including three children.
«We join Ukraine in grief after the tragic helicopter crash in Brovary. Minister Denys Monastyrsky was a great friend of the EU,” wrote the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in a tweet. “We share our deepest condolences with the families of the victims, with President Volodmyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and the Ukrainian people,” he added.
«We have just been informed that the Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs and the leadership of his ministry were killed in a helicopter crash near Kiev. I think I speak on behalf of all of us by saying that our thoughts in this Chamber are with the courageous people of Ukraine, the families and loved ones of Minister Monastyrskyi and his deputy”, said the President of the European Chamber Roberta Metsola informing the Plenary in course in Strasbourg of the incident that occurred this morning in the Kiev region. “We will continue to stand by” Ukraine, Metsola assured.
