A Russian drone hit Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv on Monday 28 September, killing two people, according to Reuters. The academy is now calling on the scientific community to back Ukrainian science and ‘to stand united’ against Russia’s continued attacks on science.
The drone hit Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences building – which has housed the academy since 1919 – during the day on Monday. People inside were forced to flee the burning building by climbing out of first- and second-storey windows. Valentyn Chebanov, director of the Institute of Functional Materials Chemistry in Kharkiv, says that this was a ‘deliberate strike at the heart of the academy’. ‘The missile hit the part of the building that houses the offices of the academy’s president and vice presidents, as well as the conference hall,’ he says. ‘This [building] is right in the centre of Kyiv and there are no military facilities nearby.’
There have been an increasing number of drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, with Russia now using more jet-propelled drones that are faster and harder to intercept. A pharmaceutical company, petrol stations and a medical facility in Kyiv have also been recent targets.
A Russian strike against the building of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. A rescue operation is underway: crews are putting out the fire and searching for people who may have been trapped inside. All services are deployed. Today in Kyiv, a pharmaceutical company and… pic.twitter.com/ccfIHnGFNg
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 28, 2026
Vitalii Palchykov, director of the research institute of chemistry and geology at Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, says that he sees ‘this attack as part of a much broader problem facing Ukrainian science’.
Ukraine is dealing with declining interest in subjects like chemistry and physics, and many students are opting to study abroad. ‘This is not a problem unique to Ukraine but the situation is much more difficult for us because universities, research institutions and scientific infrastructure are also operating under the constant threat of missile and drone attacks,’ Palchykov says.
Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, said in a statement that ‘the attack on the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences is yet another tragedy in Russia’s ongoing war’. ‘Science is about the pursuit of knowledge for the benefit of humanity, so this is an attack on civilisation itself.’
The presidents of the US National Academies have said that they ‘condemn this direct attack on the country’s scientific infrastructure’ and ‘remain committed to supporting’ the Ukrainian academy. The country’s National Academy of Sciences is now asking for donations to its Science and Innovation Fund for Ukraine, which it set up in March 2024.
The Ukrainian academy is calling for the scientific community ‘not to resume or legitimize institutional cooperation with Russian state scientific and educational institutions as long as Russia is waging an aggressive war against Ukraine’.
Despite the attack, the academy is still hopeful for the future of Ukrainian science. ‘The Russian strike destroyed part of our building. It claimed human lives. It left wounds that cannot be erased by repairing walls. But it did not destroy the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.’
