Ukrainian police raid former interior minister’s home over Kyiv helicopter crash in which his successor died

Ukrainian police raided the home of former Interior Minister Arsen Avakom on Wednesday as part of the ongoing investigation into the fatal crash of the helicopter in which the current leadership was traveling. ministry. The helicopter crashed on January 18 in the Kyiv region and 14 people died in the crash, including Interior Chief Denis Monastirski; his first deputy, Yevhen Yenin, and the Secretary of State for the Interior, Yuri Lubkovich.

According to Ukrainian media babelAvakov, who stepped down in 2021 after a long, scandal-ridden term, confirmed his home was being raided as part of the investigation into the helicopter crash that killed his successor.

Avakov added that investigators were looking at his home for various contracts he had over six years with the French company Airbus, which made the H-225 Super Puma helicopter that was used to transport officials when the crash happened. is produced, he says. babel.

According to the former minister, the investigators found “nothing” suspicious, since, according to his version, the government and parliament had approved the treatment of these contracts before their entry into force.

Technicians from the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) They also raided this Wednesday the homes of other officials who participated in the purchase of the French helicopters, reported babelciting official sources who requested anonymity.

The preliminary results of the ongoing investigation into the helicopter crash in Brovary, on the outskirts of Kyiv, have not yet been made public. Fedir Venislavskyi, representative in parliament of the President of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, explained on January 21 that the first results could be published in “the near future”, without specifying the date.

The Interior Ministry set up a special commission to investigate the cause of the accident and was ordered to submit a report on it by February 18. (Efe)