The State Bureau of Investigation has announced that it has completed its investigation into the January 18 plane crash in Brovary. On that day, the then leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, headed by Minister Denys Monastyrsky, died.

In August, suspicions in the case were served to:

• head of the Aviation and Air Search and Rescue Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine;
• acting commander of a special aviation unit; 
• deputy commander for flight training;
• commander of an aviation squadron; 
• head of the Flight Safety Service of the Special Aviation Detachment of the Operational Rescue Service of the Civil Protection Service of the SES of Ukraine from the city of Nizhyn, Chernihiv region.

The investigation established that the officials committed flagrant violations of air traffic safety and operation rules, which led to the deaths of people.


"Despite the warnings in internal instructions and legal requirements, SES officials engaged a helicopter that was on duty to respond to potential emergencies in Kyiv and the region to transport the delegation. The aircraft did not have permits for other types of flights," the SBI notes.

The bureau claims that during the preparation of the flight, the crew commander was not informed about bad weather conditions over Brovary, and the crew itself did not have the appropriate permits to fly in difficult weather conditions. Despite this, the SBI writes, the flight was not canceled.

Due to difficult weather conditions, the helicopter was forced to fly at an extremely low altitude, even lower than the height of the buildings on the route. The crew commander saw a high-rise building and tried to fly around it, but he abruptly climbed, lost his orientation in space, and collided with the ground at the end of the maneuver, the bureau adds.