Russia bombs the center of Kyiv in broad daylight and attacks the country's main research center

BarcelonaThe Russian army bombed the center of Kyiv in broad daylight this Monday, causing at least the death of one woman and leaving 21 people injured, including three children. The mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Vitali Klitschko, said that Russian drones attacked non-residential buildings in three districts of the city at four in the afternoon. One of the bombed buildings is the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the country's main public scientific research institution, located in one of the most central areas of the city, very close to important monuments, such as the National Opera and the German embassy.

Local media have broadcast images showing the building of the country's main research center with thick black smoke and people leaning out of the windows trying to escape. The country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has reported that a rescue operation is underway, searching for people who may have become trapped inside.

Anatoly Zagorodny, director of the National Academy of Sciences, said that the explosion occurred while many staff members were inside the building. "We have no connection to the army. This is an attack against science. It is terrorism," he denounced, and said that he feared some of his colleagues were still inside the building.

The president also stated that Russia has attacked a pharmaceutical company and gas stations in Kyiv, a business center in Dnipro, and other civil facilities, businesses, and communications infrastructure in other regions of the country. In Odesa, four injuries have been reported, including a minor, in a bombing of an apartment block.

The Minister of Education and Science, Andrii Butenko, has reported that one of the ministry's buildings in the capital has also suffered damage. Telegram channels have reported other attacks in the city, such as a medical center located just in front of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, according to The Kyiv Independent.

"Russia will undoubtedly receive a response. And all of Ukraine's partners must see, with this terror and these attacks, that supporting Ukraine means truly supporting people's lives," Zelensky wrote on social media. "The world must understand that the terrorists will continue if they are not stopped here, in Ukraine. And these brutal attacks must not be ignored," he added, and reiterated that a global response is needed: "We are counting on the strength of Europe, the United States, and our other partners who can help protect lives."

Russia's bombing of Kyiv has intensified in recent weeks, at a time when the Ukrainian army is also not easing its air attacks on Russian territory, especially on oil refineries, in one of the most violent moments in the war that has been dragging on for four and a half years. The Ukrainian capital also suffered a bombing this Sunday evening, at a wholesale food market on the outskirts of the city, in which two people died and four others were wounded.

Ukrainians are heading towards a winter that is expected to be very complicated if the continuous attacks by the Russian army are maintained. Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said today – before the massive afternoon attack – that Ukraine "is paying the price" for actions of the last few months and summarized that Russia attacks "the targets it considers appropriate".

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on this afternoon's attacks, claiming that the targets were fuel and telecommunications infrastructure in Kyiv and three ships that were supposedly carrying supplies for the Ukrainian army in Odessa.

Poland, on alert

Amid this massive attack by Russia against Ukraine, the Polish Air Force has reported that military aircraft have taken off in its airspace as a result of the Russian attacks against Ukraine. Local residents of Lublin, in eastern Poland, have reported that they had heard civil defense alert sirens, and the Polish government's security center has also issued alerts by message to the city's inhabitants warning that there was a risk of an air attack and that they had to find a safe place to take refuge.