Russian drone kills one at Kyiv science academy near embassies

A Russian drone struck Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv on Monday, killing at least one person and wounding three, according to Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko. The injured were taken to hospital. The strike hit the historic 19th-century building in the heart of the capital, where flames tore through and people climbed out of first- and second-floor windows to escape.abc.net.au+1

The academy sits close to the German embassy, the National Opera, St Volodymyr's Cathedral and several government buildings. Academy president Anatoliy Zagorodny said the blast struck while many staff members were inside. Standing outside the burning building, he said he did not know why Russia had targeted a leading centre of scientific research, and feared some colleagues could still be trapped inside.

What the strike hit

Zagorodny said the academy has no military connection. "We are not connected with the military. This is an attack on science. It is terrorism," he said. While the sciences building is a civilian scientific institution, it has longstanding ties to Ukraine's defence sector. Among those injured was Volodymyr Horbulin, the academy's first vice-president and a former high-ranking security official.

Volodymyr Gorbulin, Ukraine's former national security and defence council secretary, told state broadcaster Suspilne he was at work at the academy at the time and was slightly wounded. He said his assistant, who was near the building, was killed. Video footage shared online appeared to show a high-speed drone smashing into the academy at a sharp angle and exploding.

The newer jet-powered drones fly faster and are harder to intercept than the older Shahed or Geran-2 models that were the backbone of Moscow's air campaign. Ukraine is racing to develop and manufacture interceptors capable of bringing them down. Moscow has also changed its tactics, launching more attacks in daylight hours, so residents in major cities spend more of the day under air raid alerts.

How the drones changed

Buildings hit during daytime strikes are often occupied because many Ukrainians work through drone alerts rather than spend hours in shelters. Russian strikes over the past week involving missiles and increasingly sophisticated jet-powered drones have hit apartment blocks, offices, warehouses and datacentres across the capital, killing and wounding civilians almost daily. The campaign is designed to grind down public resilience and damage the economy.

A separate Russian drone struck a nearby private medical centre, killing at least one person. The Dobrobut medical centre on Antonovych Street reported seven people injured, six of them Dobrobut employees, and said the upper floors where the Dobrobut Academy is located were damaged and on fire. The blast wave shattered windows on the first through third floors facing the inner courtyard, and medical equipment was damaged.ukrinform.net

Russian strikes killed four and wounded at least 19 at a business centre in the central city of Dnipro, while authorities reported fatalities in a strike on a residential area in eastern Kharkiv. Thirty civilians were wounded, three of them seriously, in strikes on Zaporizhzhia, the regional military administration said. Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky said Russian forces damaged an ice cream factory in the Zhytomyr region.

Wider strikes across Ukraine

During Russia's assault, Poland scrambled jets to defend its air space and warned citizens near the Ukrainian border to stay inside. A Russian jet-powered drone also struck western Ukraine near the border crossing with Poland, prompting Warsaw to issue an alert and urging residents in the eastern Lublin region to seek shelter. Lt Col Jacek Goryszewski told Poland's broadcaster TVN24 it was a threat very close to the border.

Poland scrambles jets

US General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told a committee of EU politicians that Russia's sabotage campaign in Europe was failing to put countries off supporting Ukraine. "State-directed sabotage is growing increasingly brazen," he said, citing an explosive-laden drone found at a German airport and a Russian naval ship firing flares at a Danish helicopter.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Ukraine would have to pay a price for actions in recent months, referring to Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory. US-brokered efforts to end the war show little sign of progress, and Russia has signalled its attacks on Ukraine could intensify.