Russia strikes Kyiv again after deadly Academy of Sciences drone attack
Russian forces struck Kyiv again early Tuesday, hours after a jet-powered drone hit the National Academy of Sciences and killed at least two people there, Al Jazeera reported with AFP and Reuters. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said missile debris and a building fire were reported; President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday's nationwide drone wave killed nine and wounded more than 80.
AI-assisted · US Brief desk · Sources listed below
What happened
Russian forces struck the Ukrainian capital again early Tuesday, hours after a jet-powered drone slammed into the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv and killed at least two people there, Al Jazeera reported with AFP and Reuters.
What happened overnight into Tuesday: Explosions were heard across Kyiv early Tuesday. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said missile debris had fallen in one building's courtyard and that a second building caught fire elsewhere in the city, Al Jazeera reported. Those early accounts did not immediately publish a new citywide death toll for the Tuesday wave.
Monday's Academy strike: Emergency officials said the Monday attack on the Academy killed two people, with one body recovered from rubble later in the evening. Video shared online appeared to show a fast-moving drone hitting the building at a steep angle. Volodymyr Horbulin, a former national security council secretary, told Suspilne he was at work there; his assistant was killed and he was slightly wounded, Al Jazeera reported. The Academy called the attack "Russian terror" aimed at people "simply at their workplaces."
Why it matters
Daylight jet-drone hits on a landmark scientific building — and a follow-on night/morning wave on the capital — show Moscow pressing Kyiv even as U.N.-week diplomacy elsewhere yields little de-escalation. Ukraine said it struck Russian oil and defense sites in return; both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.
What’s next
Watch updated Kyiv casualty counts from Tuesday's strikes, any new Western air-defense announcements, and whether the daytime jet-drone tempo continues.
More context
Nationwide toll and jet drones: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday's drone strikes across Ukraine killed nine people and wounded more than 80, and that a medical facility in Kyiv was also hit. He said 90 of 120 drones fired that day were jet-propelled, with a 57% interception rate for that type, underscoring how harder-to-hit drones are stretching air defenses. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allies to send more air defenses after the science-academy strike.
Widening targets: Officials also reported deadly or injurious strikes in Dnipro, Synelnykove, and Zaporizhzhia. Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull, reporting from Kyiv, said Russia has been hitting economic and communications targets in a rolling series of strikes for about six days, including Kyivstar and Vodafone Ukraine on Sunday, with the government preparing for possible communications blackouts.
Uncertainty: Tuesday morning casualty and damage figures were still developing in early wire accounts. Academy and nationwide tallies differed slightly across Monday outlets before converging on two dead at the Academy and nine nationwide per Zelenskyy.
2 listed sources
- Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters, Sep 29, 2026: Russia pounds Ukraine's Kyiv after deadly strike on Academy of Sciences
- Reuters via CBC; Associated Press/CBS; The Guardian; Kyiv Independent, Sep 28, 2026
References listed by US Brief; a source count is not a verification score.
Editorial sourcing notes
Tuesday follow-up lead follows Al Jazeera Staff with AFP and Reuters, Sep 29, 2026 (early Tuesday Kyiv explosions; Klitschko debris/fire). Monday Academy toll (two dead), Zelenskyy nationwide nine killed / 80+ wounded, jet-drone share (90 of 120) and 57% interception, Dnipro/Synelnykove/Zaporizhzhia, Kyivstar/Vodafone hits, and Sybiha quotes follow that wrap and prior US Brief sourcing (Reuters/CBC, AP/CBS, Guardian, Kyiv Independent). Casualty counts can still be revised.
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