Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held an emotional meeting on Saturday morning with the families of those killed in a helicopter crash earlier this week.

Zelensky spoke with family members of the seven victims of the plane crash on Wednesday in the Brovarsky district of Kyiv. A helicopter carrying Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky and other high-ranking officials crashed into a kindergarten in the suburbs, killing him and 12 others, including a child.

At a service in Kyiv, Zelensky and his wife laid flowers at each of seven coffins draped in blue and yellow flags of Ukraine. Afterwards, the Ukrainian president spoke briefly to the families as a small orchestra played a mournful adagio.

The cause of the crash is unknown, but Zelenskiy previously said it was because the country was at war. This point of view was supported by the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaking after the service.

“All this would not have happened if it weren’t for this terrible and undeclared war that the Russian Federation is waging against Ukraine,” the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament said. “Therefore, we must remember this and not forget these people. Because for Ukraine and Ukrainians, every lost life is a great tragedy.”

The situation on the fronts of the war

Russia’s war in Ukraine, which is nearing the end of the 11th month, is “in a stalemate”, Ukrainian forces are likely to make small gains in the northeast, near the city of Kremina, while Russian forces “probably regrouped” . in the eastern city of Solentar, the British Ministry of Defense said today.

“There is a real possibility of a local Russian offensive” around Bakhmut, an eastern city whose capture will bring the Kremlin a long-awaited victory after months of setbacks on the battlefield, the British ministry said in a regular tweet.

Fierce fighting for Bakhmut continues, with three civilians killed as a result of Russian shelling in the area in the east of the Donetsk region, the deputy head of the presidential office of Ukraine said on Saturday morning.

In just the past day, as a result of Russian shelling in the east and south of Ukraine, where active hostilities are taking place, five civilians were killed and 13 were injured, Kyrylo Tymoshenko said in a Telegram message.

Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks overnight in Bakhmut and other areas of the country’s eastern region where fighting is taking place, the military said in a Facebook post on Saturday morning.

A 60-year-old woman died as a result of Russian shells hit her home in the north-east of Kharkiv, local governor Oleg Sinekhubov said on Telegram. He added that four other people were injured in the same province.

A woman also died in the southern region of Zaporozhye, where Russian troops fired more than 160 shellings overnight, Governor Oleksandr Starukh said in a Telegram message. He said that 21 cities and towns were shelled and two civilians were wounded.

Source: Associated Press.