Ukraine: who was Denys Monastyrsky, the Minister of the Interior who died in a helicopter crash?

Europe 1 with AFP 5:08 p.m., January 18, 2023

Representative of a new generation far from the post-Soviet heritage, the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior, Denys Monastyrsky, who died Wednesday at the age of 42 in a helicopter crash near kyiv, was hailed in Ukraine and abroad as an "honest" and "humane" leader.

Denys Monastyrsky was "young, very creative" and a "good person", kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko told AFP in Davos (Switzerland), where he was attending the World Economic Forum.

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"During the war, he was always proactive and supported and defended the lives of our citizens. It was a great treasure for his family" and "for our whole country", he added.

From a new generation of leaders in power

Denys Monastyrsky was part of a new generation of officials who came to power in this former Soviet republic after the pro-European Maidan uprising and in particular after the election in 2019 of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The minister, his first deputy Yevgeni Ienin and seven other people were on board the plane which, en route to a town on the front, crashed shortly after 8 a.m., killing at least 14 people, including a child.

Denys Monastyrsky, married with two sons, is the most senior Ukrainian official to die since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched eleven months ago.

While in Ukraine interior ministers have often been accused of corruption or abuse of power, the death of this man appointed to this post in July 2021, seven months before the invasion, provoked an avalanche of reactions praising his professional and personal qualities.

Elected to Parliament in 2019

For British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, "it's a real heartbreak".

"When we spoke in October, I was struck by his determination, his optimism and his patriotism," she said.

The head of British diplomacy James Cleverly for his part deplored the disappearance of "a true friend" of his country.

The Quai d'Orsay stressed that Denys Monastyrsky "was personally committed to deepening relations" between kyiv and Paris.

Originally from the Khmelntysky region (west), Denys Monastyrsky studied law there and held a professorship before working as a lawyer in private groups, then as an expert in an analysis center in kyiv.

Elected to parliament in 2019 on the list of the presidential party "Servant of the People", he was appointed Minister of the Interior two years later replacing his predecessor Arsen Avakov, a politician as influential as he was sulphurous.

"I was sincerely happy to see him appointed, because for the first time we had a normal interior minister and a chance to change something," MP Oleksandra Ustinova, a member of the commission, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. parliamentarian on homeland security.

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"Denys has always been honest and correct"

"Whatever the discussions we had within the committee, Denys was always honest and correct, calm and smiling," she added.

Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar praised her "great professionalism" and "humanity".

In this country which has long been marked by the Soviet heritage, "he was the first Minister of the Interior for whom the supreme value was the person and his rights", she said.

In particular, he participated in September in the largest exchange of prisoners of war with Russia, which enabled kyiv to recover 215 of its fighters, including defense chiefs from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

He was then seen, radiant, accompanying five military commanders from Azovstal to Turkey where they had been transferred after tough negotiations with Moscow.

Days before the invasion, an AFP team was accompanying the minister when mortar shells exploded near him, forcing him to run to a shelter near Bakhmout, now one of the hottest spots on the frontline East.

"We are not afraid. We are ready for all scenarios", assured AFP Mr. Monastyrsky, helmet on his head and bulletproof vest around his chest, just minutes before the bombardment from which he then emerged. unscathed.