Russian forces launched a series of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine on September 28 and 29, with Kyiv among the hardest hit, marking another deadly episode in the ongoing conflict now stretching into its fifth year.
The Ukrainian capital endured a significant strike on September 29, when a high-speed drone impacted the National Academy of Sciences building in the city’s historic center. Video footage circulated online showed the drone crashing at a sharp angle, causing a large explosion and sending smoke into the sky. Former national security and defense council secretary Volodymyr Gorbulin, who was inside the academy at the time, sustained minor injuries, while his assistant, reportedly near the site, was killed. The building lies near several important landmarks including the German Embassy, a cathedral, the national opera, and key government offices. Ukrainian officials described the attack as an act of “Russian terror” targeting civilians at their workplaces and a blow against Ukrainian science and culture.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that a missile strike also damaged a medical facility in Kyiv. The Ukrainian Air Force issued warnings of ballistic missile threats to the capital amid several explosions heard by journalists during the night of September 28.
Beyond Kyiv, the strikes inflicted casualties and damage across multiple regions. In the central city of Dnipro, four people were killed and at least 19 wounded when a business center was hit. Eastern Kharkiv experienced a strike on a residential area resulting in an unspecified number of fatalities. Additional damage was reported by Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky in the Zhytomyr region west of Kyiv, where an ice cream factory was hit, as well as to residential buildings in Sumy in the north, Rivne in the northwest, and southern Odessa. In south-eastern Zaporizhzhia, 30 civilians were wounded, three critically. A jet-powered Russian drone also struck a village near the Polish border, damaging a Ukrainian border checkpoint, according to regional officials.
Russia has recently increased its use of newer jet-powered drones that travel faster and are more difficult to intercept than traditional models based on Iranian Shahed drones. This technological shift adds to the challenges faced by Ukrainian air defenses.
With winter fast approaching, concerns over the ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure continue to mount. Last year, Russian strikes caused widespread power and heating outages during plummeting temperatures, compounding civilian hardship. Ukrainian leaders have urged Western allies for enhanced military assistance, including advanced missile defense systems such as the U.S.-supplied Patriot interceptors, to counter the growing threat of ballistic missiles.
In public comments on September 27, Prime Minister Koretsky recommended that vulnerable residents consider relocating before winter to reduce the strain on overstretched emergency services responding to continued attacks. He stopped short of advising mass evacuations, describing such a step as “extreme,” but highlighted the difficulties faced by emergency crews when dealing with power outages and other crisis situations affecting people in multi-story buildings.
As the conflict endures, the humanitarian and infrastructural toll on Ukraine’s civilian population remains significant, underscoring the urgent need for continued international support amid the escalating Russian offensive.