On September 28, Russian forces initiated a large-scale drone attack on Kyiv, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure, as reported by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The assault began late at night and continued into the morning, with significant destruction noted in various parts of the city.
During the morning hours, three teenagers were injured in the Podil district; two of them, a 15-year-old boy and girl, received on-site medical attention, while a 17-year-old boy was hospitalized.
As the attack progressed, a drone struck the National Academy of Sciences in the city center around 1:35 PM. This historic building, located near prominent metro stations, suffered extensive damage during working hours, posing a severe risk to many people in the vicinity. Eyewitnesses reported individuals escaping through windows as flames engulfed the structure, while rescue workers deployed ladders to assist those trapped inside.
Among the casualties was Volodymyr Horbulin, the Deputy Head of the Academy, with his assistant, Natalia Bukalo, confirmed dead. Rescue teams later recovered the body of another victim. Following the strike, communication was lost with several academy colleagues.
President Zelenskyy condemned the attack, highlighting the destruction of several floors of the academy’s main office and calling it an example of the futility of the Russian state’s actions.
In a separate incident, a drone targeted the Dobrobut Medical Center in central Kyiv, hitting the fourth floor of the seven-story building. The resulting fire spread to a neighboring structure, injuring eight individuals, with six being Dobrobut employees. The medical center, which had previously been attacked, temporarily ceased operations due to the latest strike.
Additionally, Russian propaganda claimed success in hitting a data processing center for Ukrtelecom, a company providing internet services to the Ukrainian armed forces. However, the company reported that the attack did not impact service operations. Furthermore, the Russians struck a pharmaceutical factory and a designer hat office, further indicating the indiscriminate nature of these assaults.
As the night of September 29 approached, air raid alerts sounded multiple times in Kyiv, with reports of strikes on an educational institution and an administrative building in the Solomyansky district, adding to the ongoing distress in the city.
