“Reminiscent of 11 September at World Trade Center”: Russia Strikes Ukraine’s Century-Old National Academy of Sciences in Central Kyiv
Olena Mukhina Euromaidan Press
Fire and smoke rise from the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine building in Kyiv after it was struck by a Russian drone, Sept. 28, 2026. (photo: Friedemann Kohler/Picture Alliance/Getty Images)
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Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has damaged more than 4,650 educational institutions in Ukraine. Another 423 educational institutions have been completely destroyed, Ukrainian Ombudsperson Dmytro Lubinets reports.
The Academy was founded in Kyiv on 27 November 1918. Its first president was the eminent, world-renowned scientist Volodymyr Vernadsky.
As of 1 January 2026, the total number of people working at the NAS of Ukraine was 23,982, including 13,003 researchers. Among them are 2,332 doctors of science and 6,435 candidates of science.
Volunteers say the world looks away
According to Telegram channel "Lachen Writes": "There are injured and dead as a result of Russia's strike on the National Academy of Sciences."
Meanwhile, military volunteer Serhii Sternenko, whose fund has purchased 291,502 FPV drones and helped the Ukrainian military shoot down 12,954+ aerial targets, commented on it this way: "Just hell."
"The world just watches this. Europe is lifting sanctions on Russian oligarchs. Trump asks Ukraine not to hit Russia's oil refineries. Unpunished evil will come for them too," he wrote.
The toll remains unclear
Another journalist, Andrii Tsaplienko, who posted a video showing people trying to save themselves, added his own comparison for the drone strike.
"Footage reminiscent of 11 September at the World Trade Center," he wrote.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a rescue operation is underway: the fire is being extinguished, and people who may have been inside the building are being searched for. He adds that "there will definitely be a response to this from Russia."
"And every one of Ukraine's partners must see, from this terror and these strikes, that support for Ukraine is truly support for people's lives, support for the principle that terror must never and nowhere be normalized," he stresses.
Russia must answer for all of this and feel real consequences. Thank you to everyone who is helping Ukraine!
