Russian Drone Slams Into National Academy of Sciences Building in Central Kyiv, Killing One

Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

A Russian drone directly struck a building belonging to Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv on September 28, sparking a fire in the capital’s Shevchenkivskyi district.

Ukrainain President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the Russian attack.

“A rescue operation is currently underway, the fire is being extinguished, and they are searching for people who may have been inside the building. All services are involved,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian President added that the academy was not the only civilian site targeted during the latest Russian strikes. He said a pharmaceutical company and gas stations were attacked in Kyiv, while a business center was hit in Dnipro and civilian facilities, businesses and communications infrastructure were struck elsewhere across Ukraine.

The Ukrainian leader stressed that Russia would face a response for the attack.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko initially reported that a UAV had come down on a nonresidential building in the city center and that emergency crews were heading to the scene.

“In the Shevchenkivskyi district, in the center of the capital, a UAV fell onto a nonresidential building. Fire. Emergency services are heading to the scene,” Klitschko said.

Later, Klitschko stated that four people were injured in the Russian drone attack on the Shevchenkivskyi district. Three people were hospitalized after the strike.

Head of the Shevchenkivskyi district, Oleksii Sazanovych, reported that the Russian strike injured and killed multiple civilians.

Kyiv City Military Administration stated that the Russian strike on the Shevchenkivskyi district killed a woman.

The press service of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine later told Ukrinform that the incident was not simply falling debris.

“There was a direct hit by a Russian drone on a National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine building,” the academy’s press service said.

The facility is located in central Kyiv. Emergency crews responded to the fire following the strike. The extent of the damage and information on possible casualties were not immediately available.

Earlier, a Russian jet-powered drone attacked an office building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district on September 25, killing three people and injuring seven.

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