“Go to hell” was the message given by Ukraine’s wartime interior minister at the mention of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Denis Monsterski was speaking to Sky News last April when he visited a suspect’s location. Russian War crimes in the town of Bucha, outside Cafe.
He had just been shown the charred remains of several bodies – all civilians.
Nine months later, Mr. Monstersky was murdered in a Helicopter crashHe became the most senior Ukrainian official to die since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last February.
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gave Ukrainian Authorities have launched a major investigation to find out the cause of the crash – whether it was deliberate or an accident.
Thirteen others were killed, including Deputy Interior Minister Yohan Yenin, a former intelligence officer.
The loss of Mr. Monastyrski, 42, would be a blow to the president. Vladimir Zelensky.
The minister was in charge of Ukraine’s police, national guard and border guards, which are playing an important role in countering Russia.
A former lawyer, he entered parliament as an MP with Mr Zielinski’s Servant of the People’s Party.
The president appointed him as interior minister in July 2021 — just half a year before Russian forces launched their all-out war.
In his capacity, the minister will visit frontline areas liberated from Ukrainian forces.
As well as seeing him in Bucha, Sky News observed Mr Monastyrskyi going to Izum, a city in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, after a Ukrainian counter-offensive pushed back Russian troops last September.
He opted to get off his motorcycle as he posed for pictures with cheering soldiers standing guard at the city’s entrance, marked by a large stone post: “Izyum.”
I happened to be nearby and asked him how he was feeling.
Mr Monastersky replied: “On the one hand I’m happy, right now, but on the other hand I’m worried because we found many of our Ukrainian citizens dead here at the hands of the Russians and it’s a problem for us too.
“And we understand how many kilometers we should go to our border, the Russian Federation, and we will do it.”
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