A wave of Russian jet-powered drones tore through the heart of Kyiv on Monday, slamming into the Presidium of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences and setting the historic building ablaze in an attack officials are calling a direct strike on the nation's scientific soul.

Two scientists were killed and colleagues remain unaccounted for after the strike hit the Academy's headquarters on Volodymyrska Street, just blocks from the German embassy, a famed cathedral and the national opera house — a stretch of the capital usually shielded by heavy air defenses. Among those hurt was Volodymyr Horbulin, the elder statesman of Ukraine's missile and space programs, who was injured when the building was struck; his aide was among the dead, according to the Kyiv Independent.

The academy building was just one target in an all-day barrage. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a nearby medical center and the Education and Science Ministry building were also hit, pushing the citywide injury toll past 30, including children. A pharmaceutical plant in the Darnytsia district and a warehouse in Brovary, where an ammonia leak was reported, were also struck, according to US News.

A New Breed of Drone

Ukrainian officials said Russia launched 124 drones overnight and into Monday, 86 of them the newer, faster jet-propelled variants that Moscow has increasingly deployed against Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, making interception harder. Ukraine's air force said it downed or jammed 86 of the incoming drones, but dozens got through.

"THIS IS RUSSIAN TERROR. TERROR AGAINST PEACEFUL CIVILIANS. TERROR AGAINST UKRAINIAN SCIENCE, EDUCATION, AND CULTURE."

That statement, issued by the National Academy of Sciences itself, was echoed across Kyiv's government on Monday. Rescue crews spent hours dousing the Presidium fire and searching the smoking wreckage for anyone still trapped inside, per Meduza. Germany's foreign ministry condemned the strikes, noting its embassy sits practically next door to where the drones hit.

The assault lands at a fraught diplomatic moment. It came as Kyiv's Western partners continue wrangling over prisoner exchanges and security guarantees, and as Moscow shows no signs of easing its bombing campaign heading into autumn. For a research institution that has quietly kept Ukrainian science running through more than three and a half years of war, Monday's strike was a reminder that no landmark in the capital is truly out of reach.

Officials have not said how long repairs to the Academy's historic headquarters might take, or how many of its staff remain missing. Search efforts were continuing into the evening, with the death toll expected to be confirmed in the coming days, according to United24 Media.