At the beginning of a full-scale war, it was the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Denis Monastyrsky, who decided to issue weapons to citizens who were ready to defend Kyiv and other cities from the invaders.
This is stated in the documentary film Monastyrsky's Diary.
“The decision to issue weapons to the civilian population, to those who are ready to defend their country, was his decision,” noted advisor to the ex-Minister of Internal Affairs Lesya Chervinskaya .
A difficult decision: how weapons were issued to Ukrainians
Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel General Nikolai Balan, clarified that weapons were issued to the population not only in the capital, but throughout the country.
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“Denis Anatolyevich approached us not even as a minister, but as more of a civil and creative person who thought about what we need to do to defend ourselves. To defend yourself, you need a weapon,” Balan said.
The film showed a video shot by Denis Monastyrsky on February 27, 2022, in which he talked about the distribution of weapons to Ukrainians. At that time, more than 25 thousand units of automatic weapons, about 10 million rounds of ammunition, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and grenades were issued in Kyiv alone.
In this way they wanted to protect the capital and other cities from sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the Russian Federation.
“We are working, organizing defense, protection from the DRG, issuing weapons,” the minister said in the video.
As the current head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Igor Klimenko , noted, the decision to issue weapons to the population was “a big risk for the minister.” However, Monastyrsky, “being a fairly cautious and tolerant person,” accepted him to protect Ukraine.
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All weapons that Ukrainians received are registered.
Klimenko clarified that this “was the only right decision in the first days of the war.”
At the same time , the head of the patronage service of the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Yevgeny Mironenko , said that Ukrainian units “have created a very high-quality IPSO against Russia.” The occupiers were conveyed a narrative that for them the invasion of Ukraine would not be an easy walk, since “everyone here is armed.”
– This also played some role. When they (the occupiers – Ed .) came in, they were completely frightened and were sure that everyone was sitting in the gate and shooting at them, Mironenko recalled.
The documentary portrait is dedicated to the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Denis Monastyrsky. The tape was created on the basis of a video diary that the former minister kept from the beginning of a full-scale war.
Death of Denis Monastyrsky
Denis Monastyrsky died during a plane crash in Brovary on January 18, 2023. A helicopter carrying the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs fell near a kindergarten and a high-rise building.
The tragedy also claimed the lives of First Deputy Minister Yevgeny Enin, Secretary of State Yuri Lubkovich, Deputy Head of the Patronage Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Tatyana Shutyak, other officials and the helicopter crew.
Among the dead were also a 5-year-old girl and her mother, who were visiting the kindergarten at the time of the crash.
In August, suspicion was announced to five officials of the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations. According to investigators, they were involved in violations of traffic safety rules and helicopter operation, which led to the tragedy.
