January 18, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

By Tara Subramaniam, Kathryn Snowdon, Jack Guy, Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt and Leinz Vales, CNN

Updated 12:25 a.m. ET, January 19, 2023
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7:21 a.m. ET, January 18, 2023

US has moved munitions stored in Israel for use by Ukraine

From CNN’s Hadas Gold in Jerusalem

The United States has transferred American munitions stored in Israel for use in Ukraine and plans to send more soon, US and Israeli officials told CNN Wednesday.

A US official told CNN they have moved "some" of the 300,000 155-millimeter shells that the US and Israel agreed would be transferred, and that there are plans to move the remaining amount in the coming weeks.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Richard Hecht told CNN that the Americans notified the Israelis a while ago they were transferring munitions. Hecht said the munitions are US-owned, that their movements are "American business" and that they don’t need Israeli permission to move the munitions.

The New York Times first reported the American military is tapping into its munitions stockpile stored in Israel for use in Ukraine, noting Israeli officials had initially expressed "concerns about appearing complicit in arming Ukraine."

Read the full story here.

7:54 a.m. ET, January 18, 2023

"True patriots": Who were the Ukrainian officials killed in the Brovary helicopter crash?

From CNN's Ivana Kottasova

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denis Monastyrsky, left, presents an award to a border guard in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 14.
The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denis Monastyrsky, left, presents an award to a border guard in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 14. (Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/Shutterstock)

Wednesday's helicopter crash counted Ukraine's interior minister and several members of his leadership team among its victims, thought to be the most senior government officials to have died since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February.

Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky, his first deputy Yevheniy Yenin, the ministry's state secretary Yuriy Lubkovychis, the helicopter crew and several ministerial assistants were killed in the crash in the Kyiv suburb of Brovary.

Monastyrsky, 42, was a lawyer by training. According to a biography published on the ministry's website, he spent some years teaching law and management at a university in his home town of Khmelnytskyi, before deciding to turn "from theory to practice" and become involved in politics.

He worked on reforming Ukrainian law enforcement following the 2014 Euromaidan revolution, rose through the ranks and was appointed interior minister in July 2021.

Last year, Monastyrsky accompanied a CNN crew on a visit to abandoned Russian military positions in Chernobyl.

Yenin, also 42, served as Ukraine's deputy prosecutor general and deputy minister of foreign affairs before becoming Monastyrsky's first deputy in September 2021, according to the ministry's website.

Lubkovychis was 33 and, like the other two men, was also appointed to the ministry in 2021.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement that Monastyrsky, Yenin and Lubkovychis were "true patriots of Ukraine."

7:10 a.m. ET, January 18, 2023

Brovary crash helicopter "repeatedly involved" in transporting personnel to emergency sites

From CNN's Maria Kostenko

The helicopter which crashed in Brovary on Wednesday "was repeatedly involved in the transportation of personnel to emergency sites," said the State Emergency Services of Ukraine (SES).

The SES added in a Facebook post that these "Super Puma" ES-225 aircraft are used "often due to the ability to transport a sufficient number of people at the same time."

"The crew of the aircraft was trained to perform tasks in difficult conditions and had the required number of hours of flying time on ES-225 helicopters," it added.

7:00 a.m. ET, January 18, 2023

Meeting between heads of Russian and US intelligence agencies was "useful," says Lavrov

From CNN's Radina Gigova and Anna Chernova

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, on January 18.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, on January 18.  (Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

A meeting between Russian and US intelligence chiefs in November was "useful" but did not produce any "breakthroughs," said Russia's foreign minister on Wednesday.

Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, and William Burns, CIA director, met at the headquarters of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization in Ankara on November 14.

"They know that we will respond seriously to serious requests: Biden asked Putin for Naryshkin to meet with Burns, and the meeting took place," Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference on the results of Russia’s diplomatic activities in 2022.

"Yes, it was quite serious and useful, although it did not bring any breakthroughs," he said.

"We did not break this dialogue. We have not broken off any of the areas of our cooperation. The USA broke them off," said Lavrov. "We are not going to run after them and say let’s be friends again."

On Tuesday, Naryshkin said that another meeting with Burns was possible, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Asked whether another such meeting could take place, Naryshkin said "this is possible," adding the time for a new potential meeting would be determined "by agreement" between the parties, according to TASS.

6:39 a.m. ET, January 18, 2023

Ukrainian Interior Minister and staff were en route to Kharkiv region before helicopter crash

From CNN's Maria Kostenko in Kyiv

Rescue services work at the scene of a helicopter crash near the wreckage in Brovary, near Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 18.
Rescue services work at the scene of a helicopter crash near the wreckage in Brovary, near Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 18. (Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Officials from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry were on their way to Kharkiv before their helicopter crashed this morning, according to the Kharkiv Regional Police Chief.

“Today I was supposed to welcome, to shake hands with, to meet... not only the leaders, no, but friends whom I respected and awaited," wrote Volodymyr Tymoshko on Facebook.

“Today I have talked with everyone who was on board, and drove out to meet them," he said.

Tymoshko added that their deaths are “an irreparable loss."

Kharkiv is in northeast Ukraine, and the helicopter crashed in Brovary, east of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

6:37 a.m. ET, January 18, 2023

Ukraine revises number of dead in helicopter crash down to 16

From CNN's Maria Kostenko, CNN Kyiv

Ukrainian officials have revised the number of dead in the helicopter crash in Brovary down to 16 from 18.

 Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration, said that the 16 victims included three children.

All 9 people onboard the helicopter -- six Interior Ministry officials and three crew members -- died in the crash, leaving a further seven dead.

According to Tymoshenko, 30 people are in hospital, including 12 children. He added that the search and rescue operation is continuing.

Serhiy Kruk, chief of the State Emergency Service, named the crew members as Oleksandr Vasylenko, Kostiantyn Kovalenko, Ivan Kasyanov.

6:11 a.m. ET, January 18, 2023

Ukrainian Emergency Services say 127 staff and 30 vehicles dealt with Brovary helicopter crash

From CNN's Maria Kostneko in Kyiv

Firefighters work near the site where a helicopter crashed near a kindergarten in Brovary, Ukraine, on January 18.
Firefighters work near the site where a helicopter crashed near a kindergarten in Brovary, Ukraine, on January 18. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images)

The Ukrainian Emergency Services have provided a brief outline of the timeline of the helicopter crash in Brovary, which killed 18 people including the Ukrainian Interior Minister.

The helicopter crashed at 8.20 a.m. local time (1.20 a.m. ET), according to a Telegram post from the Emergency Services, “damaging a pre-school facility building with subsequent fire, the windows in a fourteen-story residential building, and three cars.”

By 9.06 a.m. local time the resulting fire was “localized to an area of 500 square meters," and by 9.26 a.m. it was extinguished, continues the post. 

There are 127 people and 30 vehicles from the Emergency Services involved in the rescue effort, it added.

9:10 a.m. ET, January 18, 2023

Zelensky calls Brovary crash a "terrible tragedy"

From CNN's Victoria Butneko in Kyiv

Workers pass the helicopter crash site in Brovary, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 18.
Workers pass the helicopter crash site in Brovary, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 18. (Daniel Cole/AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called Wednesday's helicopter crash in Brovary "a terrible tragedy."

Zelensky confirmed that interior minister Denis Monastyrsky, first deputy minister Yevheniy Yenin and state secretary Yuriy Lubkovychis all died in the crash in a statement published Wednesday.

He said he has ordered the Ukrainian security services to "find out all the circumstances" of the incident.

The Interior Ministry officials were "true patriots of Ukraine," he said.

"May they rest in peace! May all those whose lives were taken this black morning rest in peace," he added. 

Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska called it a "horrible day" for the country.

“In helicopter crash we lost the Interior Minister and his colleagues – but the biggest tragedy is a death of children. They have faith that we, as adults, are able to protect them. My thoughts are with the victims’ families. Wish the injured speedy recovery,” she tweeted.

CNN's Alex Hardie contributed reporting to this post.

5:02 a.m. ET, January 18, 2023

Ukrainian minister killed in helicopter crash was "a great friend of the EU," says council president

From CNN’s Alex Hardie in London

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky, who died in the Brovary helicopter crash, was "a great friend of the EU," said Charles Michel, president of the European Council.

Michel said the European Union joins Ukraine "in grief following the tragic helicopter accident in Brovary" in a tweet Wednesday.

"Minister Denys Monastyrsky was a great friend of the EU. We share our deepest condolences with the families of the victims, President @ZelenskyyUa, PM @Denys_Shmyhal and the people of #Ukraine," Michel’s tweet said.