Russia pounds Kyiv after drone strike kills two at Academy of Sciences

Russian forces struck Kyiv again early Tuesday, hours after a drone attack set the National Academy of Sciences ablaze in the historic centre, killing at least two people, Ukrainian and international reports said.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported missile debris and fires across the capital. Emergency officials said two people died in Monday’s academy strike; former national security official Volodymyr Horbulin said his assistant was killed and he was lightly wounded. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least nine people were killed and more than 80 wounded in drone strikes nationwide Monday, including a hit on a medical facility in Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said 90 of 120 drones fired Monday were jet-propelled, with only a 57 per cent interception rate for that type. Officials said strikes also hit a pharmaceutical firm and petrol stations in Kyiv, a business centre in Dnipro that killed three, and infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia that wounded 32. Kyivstar and Vodafone Ukraine were hit in recent days as Russia targets communications. Ukraine said it struck oil facilities in Russia’s Krasnodar region and two defence plants.