Several people were killed as a result of a strike by Russian occupiers on the building of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky District on Monday, Ukraine's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2021-2024) Valeriy Zaluzhny said, without specifying the number of casualties but noting that he knew them personally.
"From the very beginning of my service as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Academy of Sciences became my second workplace. I knew every corner of this building, where the cream of our scientific community and intelligentsia worked. And they knew me. Today, this very place came under attack, and people close to me were killed," Zaluzhny said on Facebook on Monday.
He said the aggressor "has dared to commit every conceivable and inconceivable crime against humanity" and is doing so "in full view of the entire world."
"We will definitely rebuild it – our National Academy of Sciences. It will definitely be rebuilt. The only ones we cannot bring back are those who have died. And, of course, we will never forgive those responsible for this. My condolences to the victims and the families of the deceased," Zaluzhny added.
As previously reported, a fire broke out on the upper floors of the National Academy of Sciences building on Monday following a strike. A rescue operation is ongoing at the scene.
The State Emergency Service reported one fatality and six injured. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that three children were among the injured. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that the victim was a woman; later, media outlets reported that the victim was an assistant to former National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Chairman Volodymyr Horbulin, who is himself among the injured.
The press service of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language said two academicians were killed as a result of the Russian strike on the National Academy of Sciences building, and several others remain unaccounted for.
