| At least 14 killed in Ukrainian helicopter crash |
| Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, Denys Monastyrsky, was among at least 14 people who died yesterday in a helicopter crash. He is the highest-ranking Ukrainian official to die since the beginning of Russia’s invasion last year. An investigation is underway, but there were no initial signs that the aircraft had been shot down. |
| Monastyrsky’s death deals a blow to a ministry that has played a critical role in the war effort: He oversaw police and emergency services and handled rescue efforts after missile strikes. His top deputy was also killed in the crash, as well as other pivotal figures in Ukraine’s wartime leadership. |
| The accident comes as the U.S. begins to soften its stance against giving Ukraine the weapons it needs to target Crimea, despite the risk of escalation. Kyiv is looking to strike Russia’s land bridge, a critical supply route that connects Crimea to Russia through the occupied cities of Melitopol and Mariupol. |
| Davos: In a video address to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, called for a minute of silence to remember the victims of the crash and then made a passionate speech. “The tyranny is outpacing democracy,” Zelensky said. “The time the free world uses to think is used by the terrorist state to kill.” |
| European response: Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, offered a robust expression of solidarity with Ukraine, reflecting not only the imperative of repelling a brutal aggressor but also palpable relief that Europe has not been crippled by the war. He did not mention whether Germany will send battlefield tanks to Ukraine. |
