Medical center, science academy struck in downtown Kyiv as all-day Russian drone attacks continue
Two men attempt to escape from the National Academy of Sciences building, which is burning after being hit by a Russian drone, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 28, 2026. (Kyrylo Chubotin / Ukrinform / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
on GoogleRussian drones have struck central Kyiv in the middle of the day on Sept. 28, killing two and injuring 26 others, as Moscow's round-the-clock bombardment of the Ukrainian capital continues.
The Russian attack on the city center killed two and injured 26 other people, including three children, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Russian drones struck non-residential buildings in Kyiv's Obolonskyi, Solomyansky, Darnytskyi, Podil, and Shevchenkivskyi districts, Klitschko said.
In the city center, the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences building was set ablaze, while Education and Sciences Minister Andrii Butenko reported that one of the ministry's buildings was also damaged.
An aide to former National Security and Defense Council Secretary Volodymyr Horbulin was killed in the strike on the National Academy of Sciences building, the academy's press service told Ukrinform. Horbulin was at work when the building was hit and sustained a minor injury, according to Suspilne.
Horbulin is one of the architects of Ukraine's missile and space programs, as well as the post-independence security doctrine, holds the highest national decoration Hero of Ukraine, and is a full knight of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise.
The building is located in close proximity to important city landmarks, including the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian National University, the capital's main opera and ballet theater, and the German embassy.
Videos posted to social media showed people clinging to the outside of windows as smoke poured from the building.
"A rescue operation is currently underway... and a search is being conducted for people who might have been inside the building," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
"Russia will definitely face a response to this. And every one of Ukraine’s partners must see from this terror, from these strikes, that supporting Ukraine means truly supporting people’s lives – supporting the principle that terror must never be normalized, anywhere. Russia must be held accountable for all of this and face real consequences," he added.
The German Foreign Ministry condemned the strikes on the academy near its embassy and said "Russia is once again accepting civilian casualties and injuries – even in the immediate vicinity of our embassy. We continue to support Ukraine."
Smoke was seen rising from numerous locations across the city center by Kyiv Independent reporters in the capital.
Later in the afternoon, local Telegram channels showed another strike in central Kyiv, with videos showing a medical center belonging to Ukrainian private medical provided Dobrobut in flames.
The building is just across the road from Ukraine's Constitutional Court, and only two blocks from the country's national stadium.
Zelensky confirmed the strike on the medical facility, adding that first responders were working at the scene.
Seven people were injured in the strike on the Dobrobut medical center, six of them employees of the facility, the medical network told Ukrainska Pravda.
Russia also struck the Darnytsia pharmaceutical plant again, without any casualties, only days after an attack on Sept. 23, board member Kateryna Zagoriy said.
Ukraine's air force reported that Russia had fired 124 UAVs, 86 of them jet-powered, at Ukraine. The air force said it downed or suppressed 86 of the drones, 49 of them jet-powered.
The strikes are just the latest in a weeks-long, round-the-clock Russian aerial campaign against Kyiv.
In the commuter city of Brovary east of Kyiv, a Russian strike on a warehouse led to a "minor" ammonia leak, regional governor Tymur Tkachenko said.
On the evening of Sept. 27, two people were killed and four others injured by a Russian strike on the Stolichny food market just outside of the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The strike caused a fire at the wholesale food market.
Eyewitness footage from the scene of the strike on the market showed flames engulfing vehicles in the parking lot.
Over central Kyiv, air defense systems were reported to be active, filling the city with sounds of blasts and explosions amid a nine-hour-long air raid alert.
An additional nine people sustained injuries in attacks on Kyiv throughout the day, said Klitschko. Six of the injured victims were hospitalized, including one child.
