Kyiv university shifts online after Russian drone strike on academy
A Russian drone strike hit Kyiv's Academy of Sciences and set off a wider toll of casualties this week, including a 14-year-old boy killed earlier.
Update ·
An earlier overnight attack on 25-26 September killed seven people in Kyiv, including a 14-year-old boy, the Kyiv Independent reported.
All 6 updates ↓Also in:Українська
Incidents in this story
- National Academy of Sciences, Kyiv · Monday afternoon: Drone strike on Academy of Sciences, one killed, six injured (1 killed, 6 injured)
- Kyiv · night of 25-26 September: Overnight attack, 25-26 September, kills seven citywide (7 killed, 59 injured)
A Russian drone struck the National Academy of Sciences building in central Kyiv on Monday afternoon, setting off a heavy fire and forcing people inside to climb onto window sills to escape the smoke. President Volodymyr Zelensky said one person was killed and six injured at the site, including three children. Emergency crews put out the blaze and rescued people from the upper floors.
Taras Shevchenko National University, next to the academy building, has moved all classes online until at least 16 October, the university said, citing security concerns after the strike. The neighbouring Shevchenko Museum was also damaged in the attack, according to Ukrainian and German media.
Kyiv's citywide toll for the day continued to rise as reports came in. Ukrinform put the injury count at 19 earlier in the day before raising it to 24, including three children, with one death confirmed. Censor.net separately reported 21 people injured across the capital and one woman killed.
In the Holosiivskyi district, emergency workers rescued two people after a separate morning strike hit an administrative building, the State Emergency Service said. Fires also broke out at a petrol station in the Obolonskyi district and in an open area of the Darnytskyi district; both were extinguished with no casualties reported.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a drone struck a shopping mall in the Svyatoshynskyi district. Further strikes hit a pharmaceutical company, a medical facility, schools, kindergartens, residential buildings and telecommunications infrastructure elsewhere in the capital, according to officials.
The strikes followed an earlier overnight attack on 25-26 September that killed seven people and injured 59 across Kyiv, 25 of whom were hospitalised, the Kyiv Independent reported. Two of those hospitalised were children, and one of those killed was a 14-year-old boy who held Israeli citizenship, killed when a strike hit a residential building in the central Pecherskyi district.
The Guardian reported that the academy strike was condemned as an attack on science after staff fled the burning building. Zelensky said Russia must be held accountable for the attack, and both the UK Foreign Office and Germany's foreign ministry condemned it.
across Kyiv ran for prolonged periods through the attacks, with one lasting more than nine hours into Monday morning. Ukraine's air force has said the number of launched against the country rose from 350 in June to 2,850 in August, straining Ukrainian that are harder pressed to intercept the faster munitions.
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What we know
- Official · Zelensky A Russian drone strike hit the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv, killing one person and injuring six, including three children, Zelensky said.
- 2+ outlets · Ukrinform Kyiv's overall toll for the day reached 24 injured and one dead, per Ukrinform, with a separate report of 21 injured and one woman killed.
- 1 outlet · Censor.net, Kyiv Post An earlier attack on the night of 25-26 September killed seven people and injured 59 across the city, including a 14-year-old Israeli boy.
- 1 outlet · Kyiv Post Taras Shevchenko National University moved classes online until at least 16 October, citing security concerns.
- 2+ outlets · Kyiv Post, ČT24 +1 Strikes also hit a shopping mall, a pharmaceutical company, a medical facility, schools and residential buildings across several districts.
How each fact is established: Verified checked by an ECTV editorOfficial stated by an official body2+ outlets reported independently by two or more news organisations1 outlet reported by a single news organisation so farUnconfirmed claimed or reportedHow we label facts
Figure history
PremiumSee how the 2 casualty figures in this story changed (2 changes), when, and who gave each number.
Why it matters for Europe
The strike on the National Academy of Sciences, one of Ukraine's oldest scientific institutions, was widely condemned as an attack on science after footage showed staff fleeing the burning building. It came during a week of near-daily Russian drone and missile attacks on Kyiv that have repeatedly hit civilian infrastructure, from a university to shopping centres and residential blocks.
The rising toll from the preceding night's attack, including a foreign national among the dead, shows the strikes are affecting residents and visitors alike, as Ukraine's air force says it is under growing strain from a sharp rise in jet-powered drones fired by Russia.
Updates
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An earlier overnight attack on 25-26 September killed seven people in Kyiv, including a 14-year-old boy, the Kyiv Independent reported.
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Kyiv's citywide injury toll for the day has risen to 24, including three children, Ukrinform reports.
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Taras Shevchenko National University moves classes online until at least 16 October, citing security concerns after the academy strike.
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Death toll rises after Russian drone hits the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv.
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Censor.net reported the day's injured total in Kyiv rose to 21 with one woman killed.
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Updated with new details from later reports on the National Academy of Sciences strike: two people rescued from windows, President Zelensky's pledge of a response, and confirmation the fire burned for hours. An unverified single-source report of six injured including three children is noted as unconfirmed, not stated as fact.
First published.
Sources
Reported by 168 reports from 101 independent outlets in 23 countries.
- Kyiv Post: Overnight Russian Strike Hits School, Houses, Offices In and Around Kyiv
- ČT24: Ukrajina zaútočila na ilskou rafinerii, Rusové zasáhli datové centrum v Kyjevě
- Nasha Niva: Budanov: Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire, while Russia finds reasons for it not to happen
- Boka News: Noćni napadi na Kijev; Uzbuna diljem Ukrajine
- The Kyiv Independent: At least 5 injured in ongoing Russian drone strikes on Kyiv
Source balance
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Intelligence file
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Confidence and impact scores, 154 more sources, the full situation report and the event timeline.
Questions and answers
- What happened at Kyiv's Academy of Sciences?
- A Russian drone strike set the building on fire, killing one person and injuring six, including three children, President Zelensky said.
- How has the university responded?
- Taras Shevchenko National University, next to the academy, moved all classes online until at least 16 October, citing security concerns.
- Were there other casualties that week?
- An earlier overnight attack on 25-26 September killed seven people and injured 59 across Kyiv, including a 14-year-old boy who held Israeli citizenship.
This article was written with AI assistance from 159 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.