KYIV — Russian forces struck Ukraine’s capital again early Tuesday, hours after a jet-powered drone attack set fire to the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv and killed at least two people, according to Al Jazeera reporting that drew on AFP, Reuters, and Ukrainian officials.
Explosions were heard across Kyiv on Tuesday morning. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said missile debris fell in one building’s courtyard while a second building caught fire elsewhere in the city. The overnight barrage followed Monday’s strike on the academy — near the German Embassy, a cathedral, the national opera, and government buildings — which emergency officials said killed two people, with one body recovered from rubble later in the evening.
Video circulated online appeared to show a fast-moving drone slamming into the academy at a steep angle. Volodymyr Horbulin, a former National Security and Defence Council secretary, told public broadcaster Suspilne he was at work when the building was hit; he said his assistant, who was nearby, was killed and that he was slightly wounded. The academy called the attack “Russian terror” aimed at people simply at their workplaces. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allies to supply more air defenses, saying Russia is “deliberately expanding the boundaries of what it believes the world will tolerate.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces also hit a medical facility in Kyiv on Monday and that at least nine people were killed and more than 80 wounded in drone strikes across the country that day. In his nightly address, he said 90 of 120 drones fired Monday were jet-propelled rather than propeller-driven, with an interception rate for that faster type around 57%. “New interceptors are being actively tested,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine is accelerating developers to improve effectiveness and scale.
Beyond Kyiv, officials reported a business-center strike in Dnipro that killed three and wounded 19; another death at a logistics office in Synelnykove; and 32 wounded in Zaporizhzhia infrastructure attacks. Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from Kyiv, said Russia has been hitting economic and communications targets for days, including major mobile providers Kyivstar and Vodafone Ukraine, with the government preparing for possible wider communications blackouts. Zelenskyy said Ukraine struck Russian oil facilities in Krasnodar and two defense plants. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.
Based on Al Jazeera (staff/AFP/Reuters), with Zelenskyy and Klitschko statements as those outlets reported them. Casualty figures are officials’ tallies and may be revised.