Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences has urged universities and research organisations around the world to cut ties with Russian institutions after a drone strike on its Kyiv headquarters killed at least two people and injured several others. 

The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is the main research-oriented organisation in the country, overseeing a network of research institutes. In its statement, it said rhetorical  and warned against normalising relations with Russia as the war continued.

“We call upon academies of sciences, universities, research centres, scientific foundations, international scientific organisations and publishers not to resume or legitimise institutional cooperation with Russian state scientific and educational institutions as long as Russia is waging an aggressive war against Ukraine,” it said.

The statement comes after the academy’s Presidium building partially collapsed and became engulfed in flames after it was struck by a Russian jet-powered drone on Monday. 

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The academy said people on its upper floors were forced to escape through the windows after they were cut off by the flames. 

“The strike on the academy is part of a much broader Russian campaign of terror against Ukraine’s civilian population, its universities, research institutions, libraries, museums, hospitals, and residential buildings,” it added. 

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In recent months Russia has stepped up its attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine with its new jet-powered drones, which Ukrainian air defences find difficult to intercept.

Founded in 1918, the academy has about 13,000 researchers across 159 institutes. Since the full-scale invasion, it has expanded defence-related research and work on drone technology. 

The academy pointed out that it ended cooperation with Russian scientific organisations and researchers when the full-scale invasion began in 2022 and that the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) suspended the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“There can be no ‘science is above politics’ when science is under armed attacks,” the academy said, adding that Russian state scientific institutions that support the war should not be allowed to “return to the international scientific community as if nothing had happened”. 

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The attack prompted widespread condemnation from researchers in Ukraine and around the world, including from , which called it a “brazen daytime assault” and reiterated its solidarity with the academy. 

According to ALLEA, more than 4,650 educational institutions across Ukraine have been damaged and a further 423 destroyed since 2022. 

seher.asaf@timeshighereducation.com����