In a tragic incident, at least 22 people were killed after a military transport plane carrying air force cadets crashed and burst into flames in northeastern Ukraine on Friday evening.
The aircraft, an Antonov-26, came down near the eastern city of Kharkiv as it was landing.
The plane was carrying cadets from Kharkiv Air Force University and was on a training flight. Emergency ministry officials say 27 people were on board.
Two were seriously injured, and a search operation is continuing into the night for three missing people. The cause of the crash is being investigated.
“Twenty-two people died,” Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko told AFP, adding that “the search for two other people is continuing”.
“It’s a shock,” he added. “At the moment it’s impossible to establish the cause” of the crash.”
One pilot reported failure in the left engine of the twin-engine plane, said Oleksiy Kucher, the governor of the Kharkiv region, according to Interfax Ukraine, adding this would not have been a critical situation for an experienced pilot.
Citing preliminary information, Mr Kucher said that some of the people on board managed to jump out of the plane when it was at low altitude.
An eyewitness who was driving along the road toward Chuhuiv told Reuters he saw a man in flames running from the plane after it crashed.
Mr Zelensky wrote on Facebook that the incident was “a terrible tragedy”, adding that he had “just no words”.
He added that he would visit the region tomorrow, and was “urgently creating a government commission to investigate all circumstances and causes of the tragedy” which will be led by prime minister Denys Shmyhal.
