[2][3][4][5] According to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the officials onboard had been traveling to a combat zone when the helicopter plunged to the ground at 08:20 EET.

Eyewitnesses described foggy conditions at the time of the crash, and some reported seeing the helicopter on fire, spinning with its pylon and tail rotor missing, and circling before it hit the ground.

It belonged to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service and was one of the 21 model H225 helicopters delivered by France between 2018 and 2021, as part of a program to modernize Ukraine's aging Soviet aircraft fleet.

[2] In an address following the incident, President Zelenskyy said he had asked the SBU state security service to launch a criminal probe into the cause.

[13] Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson of the Ukrainian Air Force, announced that the incident would also be investigated by a special state commission, a probe expected to take at least several weeks.