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Russian forces launched a fresh wave of attacks on Kyiv early Tuesday, just hours after a drone slammed into the National Academy of Sciences in the Ukrainian capital's historic center, killing at least two people. Explosions reverberated across the city before dawn, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who reported that missile debris had crashed into the courtyard of one building while a separate structure caught fire elsewhere in Kyiv.
The Monday strike on the prestigious scientific institution marked another escalation in Moscow's campaign against Ukrainian cities, which has increasingly featured fast, high-flying jet-powered drones that are harder for air defenses to intercept. Emergency crews recovered one victim's body from the rubble later Monday evening, confirming the second fatality hours after the initial impact.
Dramatic footage circulating online appeared to capture a swift drone diving at a steep angle into the academy building before exploding, sending plumes of smoke into an otherwise clear sky. Witnesses could be seen leaning out of windows as bright orange flames consumed a section of the historic structure. The building sits in close proximity to the German Embassy, a cathedral, the national opera, and several government buildings, underscoring the symbolic weight of the location.
Volodymyr Horbulin, a former secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, was at his workplace inside the academy when the attack unfolded. Speaking to public broadcaster Suspilne, he recounted that his assistant, who was near the building at the time, was killed in the strike, and that he himself sustained minor injuries. The academy issued a statement condemning what it described as "Russian terror" and "barbarity" directed at "peaceful people who were simply at their workplaces."
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Moscow of cynicism for targeting a scientific institution during the workday. "Russia is deliberately expanding the boundaries of what it believes the world will tolerate," he said in a statement, while pressing Ukraine's allies to supply additional air defense systems. The attack on an academic center adds to a growing list of civilian sites struck since the war began, though both sides have consistently denied deliberately targeting civilians.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces also hit a medical facility in Kyiv on Monday. Across the country, at least nine people were killed in Russian drone strikes throughout the day, while more than 80 others suffered wounds. In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine continues to struggle against the faster, high-flying jet-powered drones that Russia has deployed in recent weeks.
"New interceptors are being actively tested," Zelenskyy said. "Some combat groups are using them, but, of course, some details still need to be refined to achieve enough effectiveness and scale. We are speeding up the developers." According to the Ukrainian president, 90 of the 120 drones launched against Ukraine on Monday were jet-propelled rather than propeller-driven, and the interception rate for that specific type of drone stood at just 57 percent—a figure that highlights the mounting challenge facing Ukrainian air defenses.
Officials reported that the Russian strikes on Kyiv also targeted a pharmaceutical company and petrol stations, while civilian facilities, businesses, and communications infrastructure were hit in other cities and regions. In the southeastern city of Dnipro, a drone attack on a business center killed three people and wounded 19, according to local authorities. Another person died in a logistics office in Synelnykove, southeast of Dnipro, the regional governor confirmed.
Emergency services said an attack on infrastructure in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia wounded 32 people. The breadth of the strikes—spanning the capital and multiple southeastern regions—suggests a coordinated effort to overwhelm Ukraine's defensive capabilities and disrupt daily life far from the front lines.
Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull, reporting from Kyiv, said Russia has been hitting economic targets across Ukraine "in a rolling series of strikes that have been ongoing for six days now," conducted during both daytime and nighttime hours. "Data centres increasingly being hit, as well as digital and communications infrastructure," he noted. "Kyiv Star, the country's biggest cell provider, was hit on Sunday, as was the second biggest, Vodafone Ukraine. The government is said to be preparing for the worst: a total blackout in communications should that come." Hull added that the Russian attacks have brought Kyiv "firmly into the eye of this war."
Meanwhile, Ukraine has intensified its own attacks on Russian territory, targeting oil refineries and online retailers in an effort to undermine revenues and erode support for Moscow's war effort. Zelenskyy said Monday that Ukrainian forces struck Russian oil facilities in the Krasnodar region as well as two defense plants—a signal that Kyiv is seeking to bring the economic costs of the conflict home to Russia even as it struggles to shield its own cities.
The use of jet-powered drones represents a significant tactical shift in Russia's aerial campaign. Unlike slower propeller-driven models, these faster drones approach at higher altitudes and greater speeds, compressing the window for detection and interception. The result has been a lower success rate for Ukrainian air defenses, which have relied heavily on Western-supplied systems and domestically developed interceptors to counter the daily barrage.
The strike on the National Academy of Sciences carries particular resonance because of its location in the heart of Kyiv's historic district. The academy has long been a symbol of Ukrainian scientific and cultural achievement, and its proximity to diplomatic missions and government buildings amplifies the perception that Moscow is willing to strike at the center of Ukraine's institutional life. The attack also raises questions about the adequacy of air defense coverage in densely populated urban areas, where civilian casualties and damage to landmarks carry both humanitarian and political consequences.
As the war grinds toward another winter, the combination of expanded drone strikes on economic and communications infrastructure and the persistent challenge of intercepting advanced aerial threats suggests that Ukraine's cities will remain vulnerable. The government's contingency planning for a possible total communications blackout underscores the stakes: not only physical destruction but the potential severing of the connective tissue that keeps the country functioning under wartime conditions. For Kyiv's residents, the past six days of rolling strikes have brought the conflict back to their doorsteps with renewed intensity, even as diplomatic efforts abroad continue to seek a path toward de-escalation.
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