ALLEA Condemns Russian Drone Strike on the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

UPDATE — The Ukraine National Academy of Science has released an official statement about the attacks here: Russian terror against Ukrainian science. Statement of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

BERLIN — ALLEA, All European Academies, expresses its profound shock and unconditional condemnation of the Russian drone strike on the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU) in central Kyiv on 28 September 2026, which has caused devastating damage to the Academy’s building, killed at least one person, and injured several others. Rescue operations and firefighting efforts are ongoing.

The attack struck the NASU building in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district in a brazen daytime assault that also targeted apartment buildings, offices, and civilian infrastructure across the city. The broader assault killed at least seven people and wounded more than 50 others*. Photographs and footage circulating in the immediate aftermath showed people attempting to escape the burning building through windows. These scenes have shocked the international community.

ALLEA stands in full solidarity with the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, its staff, and its researchers. As of January 2026, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine employed nearly 24,000 people, including over 13,000 researchers. It is one of Europe’s most significant scientific institutions and a long-standing partner academy within the ALLEA network. The deliberate targeting of a place of learning, research, and knowledge in the heart of Kyiv’s historic centre – along with all other attacks that have been made since the start of Russia’s war of aggression – is a barbaric act that cannot be condemned in strong enough terms.

This strike does not stand alone. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, more than 4,650 educational institutions across Ukraine have been damaged, and a further 423 have been destroyed. The systematic targeting of Ukraine’s scientific and cultural infrastructure represents not only an assault on the country’s people, but a deliberate attempt to erase the conditions under which free inquiry, knowledge, and democratic life are possible.

ALLEA calls on the international community, European institutions, and all partners in the global scientific community to unequivocally condemn this attack and all attacks of this nature. Science, research, and education are not legitimate targets, either in war or in any other context. The destruction of scientific institutions is the destruction of a society’s capacity to understand, adapt, and rebuild.

ALLEA reaffirms its continued support for Ukraine, its researchers, and its academy, and calls for an immediate end to Russia’s campaign of deliberate destruction against Ukraine’s scientific and civilian infrastructure.

* Figures on casualties are from reporting published within the last few hours, so numbers may rise as the situation develops.

About ALLEA

ALLEA is the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, representing over 60 academies from across Europe. Since its foundation in 1994, ALLEA speaks out on behalf of its members on European and international stages, promotes science as a global public good, and facilitates scientific collaboration across borders, disciplines, and generations. Jointly with its Member Academies, ALLEA works towards improving the conditions for research, providing the best independent and interdisciplinary science advice, and strengthening the role of science in society. In doing so, it channels the intellectual excellence and experience of European academies for the benefit of the research community, decision-makers, and society at large. ALLEA is constituted as a not-for-profit association and remains fully independent from political, religious, commercial, or ideological interests.