Russian Strike on Central Kyiv Kills One, Injures Three, Mayor Says

A Russian strike on central Kyiv killed at least one person and injured three others, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Monday, adding that search-and-rescue operations were still under way and the toll could rise.

The attack hit the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in the capital's Shevchenkivskyi district, the latest landmark in Kyiv to be damaged in the war. The Kyiv City Military Administration said a woman was killed in the strike on the district.

Speaking at the scene, Klitschko described the assault as deliberate terror. "The terror continues. For more than a week, Russia keeps attacking Kyiv, disrupting normal life in the city and destroying buildings," he said. "This is pure terror by the Russian Federation. It does not distinguish between residential buildings and historic buildings. Every Ukrainian is the enemy's target."

Emergency services were deployed at the site, where firefighters sprayed water from cranes onto rising smoke and worked to extinguish fires inside the damaged building. Debris covered cars parked nearby, and several vehicles were damaged with the ruined structure behind them.

The strike was part of a broader Russian bombardment that also hit apartment buildings, offices, data centers, a pharmaceutical company and gas stations in Kyiv, according to the accounts. The attacks followed a week of diplomatic efforts at the United Nations aimed at gaining traction for negotiations to end Moscow's invasion, now in its fifth year.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated on Monday that prospects for rapid progress toward a peace settlement were bleak after recent Ukrainian attacks, including during recent parliamentary elections in Russia. "Ukraine will have to pay a price for the actions that have taken place in recent months," Peskov told reporters. "That is happening right now."

In the meantime, Ukraine's long-range drones have repeatedly targeted Russian fuel depots and industrial plants that underpin Moscow's economy and war effort. Ukrainian drone attacks overnight started fires at three infrastructure facilities in Russia's Krasnodar region, local emergency officials said on Monday, without identifying the locations. Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 254 Ukrainian drones overnight.