French President Emmanuel Macron has sharply condemned Vladimir Putin’s government after a Russian drone struck Ukraine’s leading scientific institution in central Kyiv, describing the attack as further evidence of Moscow’s hostility towards science, truth and civilian life.
“Vladimir Putin’s regime has struck Ukraine’s largest scientific research institution, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,” Macron said. “These strikes are a new illustration of the hostile contempt of the Russian regime towards science and truth.”
The attack on Monday damaged the academy’s historic headquarters during working hours, killing two people and injuring several others.
The institution, founded in 1918, coordinates a wide network of Ukrainian research centres and remains central to the country’s scientific and technological development.
The academy was struck during a wider wave of Russian drone attacks across Ukraine that killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 80. Other attacks hit residential buildings, offices, a medical facility and infrastructure in Kyiv, Dnipro and several other regions.
Ukrainian authorities said Russia used faster, jet-powered drones that are more difficult for existing air-defence systems to intercept.
Macron said the attack on the academy could not be separated from the daily suffering of Ukrainian civilians.
“They add to the barbarity of the daily strikes that hunt down Ukrainian civilians,” he said. “We share the suffering of the victims and their families.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for additional air-defence systems and stronger international pressure on Moscow.
Russia maintains that its forces target military and strategic infrastructure, although its strikes have repeatedly damaged homes, hospitals and other civilian facilities since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Macron reaffirmed that France and Europe would continue supporting Ukraine.
“France and Europe will stand by the Ukrainian people, who are resisting with courage, for as long as necessary,” he said.
