Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said he was not afraid for his personal security after a helicopter crash killed Ukraine’s interior minister and more than a dozen other people.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, just hours after news of the helicopter crash was reported, Zelensky dismissed a question from CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on whether he was concerned about active threats and his own security.
“No, I am not worried,” he said. “I have nothing to add to that.”
Zelensky has previously shrugged off concerns about his safety during the war with Russia, despite having been targeted in various failed assassination attempts from Moscow.
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February of last year, Zelensky famously turned down a U.S. offer for evacuation from the capital of Kyiv.
“I need ammunition, not a ride,” the Ukrainian president said in what became arguably the most popular quote of 2022.
The helicopter crash, however, struck close to home and marked the death of the most senior Ukrainian official to have been killed in the war so far.
The helicopter was flying through heavy fog before it crashed into a kindergarten in the suburbs of Kyiv on Wednesday morning, killing 14 people, including a child on the ground, and injuring another 25, including 11 children.
The aircraft was carrying nine people, including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrski, who oversaw the country’s police and emergency services, and two other senior officials.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the helicopter crash was an accident or related to the war. Ukrainian officials have opened an investigation into the incident.
In Davos, Zelensky said the helicopter crash was “not an accident” because it was inevitably a result of the war.
“It has been due to war, and the war has many dimensions, not just on the battlefield,” he said. “There are no accidents at wartime. These are all war results, absolutely.”
During his remarks, Zelensky also led a minute of silence for those killed in the helicopter crash and other Ukrainians who have died in the war.
“Only one minute, but it keeps [alive] the memory of so many people,” Zelensky said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.