The minister Denys Monastyrskyi who died in the accident was headed by ultra-nationalist paramilitary groups such as the Azov battalion. The Germans offer advice for the investigation
FROM OUR REPORTER
KIEV – The helicopter carrying the entire leadership of a key ministry crashes in a country at war and the first thoughts turn to an attack by the enemy. But no, no one in Kiev has mentioned a missile or a Russian attack as responsible for the disaster. Not even the second most obvious hypothesis, accident or human error, has been proposed by the authorities as an immediate explanation. Only pain and “we have opened an investigation”.
Yesterday morning in Kiev the fog was thick and, as always in wartime, the helicopter flew as low as possible over the roofs (and electricity pylons). If the pilot had hit something there would be tracks that have not been found. The witnesses then speak of an explosion “in the helicopter” without reporting any missiles. If it was an attack, then someone must have planted a bomb on board which, when it exploded, caused the aircraft to crash. An alternative hypothesis that would explain the loss of control is the technical failure, but it would not be enough to explain the alleged explosion. So, what will the investigation focus on?
Only assumptions can be made.
Attack
If the Ukrainians discover that special forces, infiltrators, traitors in the service of Moscow, are able to tamper with a vehicle so close to the Kiev summit, it would be very bad news for Ukraine. The chance of this “truth” emerging is slim. First of all for reasons of national cohesion, secondly for plausibility. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, 42, a Zelensky loyalist, dynamic, efficient, was an important figure, but not decisive for the course of the war. The Russian 007s wouldn’t pay to risk burning their infiltrators for him. Better hit the Chief of Staff or the President.
Broken down
Germany offered its technicians to investigate the causes. It is possible that heavy use has caused maintenance to be neglected, but some Russian media add large doses of venom to the idea of failure. The French Super Pumas would have been bought by the previous minister Arsen Avakov when, already in 2019, they were considered obsolete and unsaleable in other markets. The crash, the Russians sneer, stems from Ukrainian corruption that bought them as playthings for high-ranking bureaucrats.
Internal attack
Witnesses speak of an explosion before the fall. If not Russian, any bomb can only be Ukrainian. The result of a conflict between intelligence and the Interior Ministry says the former head of the external secret services of Kiev, the pro-Russian Mykola Malomuzh. It remains to understand why. Here the fog is even thicker than yesterday morning’s real one. Minister Denys Monastyrskyi headed the ultra-nationalist paramilitary groups such as the Azov battalion normalized with entry into the National Guard. Would anyone have liked more freedom? Also through Monastyrskyi’s office billions of Western armaments have passed. It is known that some did not arrive at the front to be resold abroad. The Ministry of the Interior was the most suitable body to investigate, but also among the favorites to take advantage of it.
January 18, 2023 (change January 19, 2023 | 07:27)
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