‘A Deliberate Tactic’: Zelensky Condemns Russian Drone Strike on Kyiv School

President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia’s strikes on schools “a deliberate tactic” after a Russian Geran-4 drone hit a school in Kyiv with more than 100 children and 60 teachers sheltering inside.In a statement posted to Telegram on Thursday, Oct. 1, Zelensky confirmed that he had spoken with the principal and teachers of the school, which was hit earlier in the morning.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“The most important thing is that everyone is alive,” Zelensky said, adding that “striking schools and kindergartens is a deliberate tactic used by Russians, who target ordinary life.”Warhead failed to detonateCiting Kyiv police, Ukrinform reported that a Geran-4 drone struck the wall of a stairwell between the school’s second and third floors.The warhead, weighing about 50 kilograms (110 lbs), pierced the floor between levels and fell onto the stairs. Had it detonated, the explosion could have collapsed all four floors of the building, according to specialists.Bomb disposal experts removed the munition and took it to a training ground to be destroyed.The drone hit the school in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district during an air raid alert that lasted from 8:48 a.m. to 9:31 a.m., starting a fire. At the time, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the third floor of the four-story building was damaged and that firefighters had extinguished the blaze.Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that Russian forces also struck warehouse facilities in the same district. Other Topics of Interest UK Announces Package of 31 Sanctions Against Russia The UK has imposed 31 new sanctions on Russia, targeting its LNG shadow fleet, propagandists, and officials linked to child deportations. The school strike followed an overnight Russian attack on Kyiv that injured one man and sparked fires in several districts, including at a café on the ground floor of a 16-story residential building in the Solomianskyi district.On Wednesday, Sept. 30, Russian strikes on the capital with ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones killed three people, including two women aged 46 and 95, and wounded seven.In the Obolonskyi district, a jet-powered drone clipped the roof of a nine-story apartment building before crashing near a children’s playground without detonating.Zelensky said air raid alerts had lasted almost the entire day in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, calling the strikes a “new escalation of terror.”Zelensky orders restorationZelensky instructed the Presidential Office, local authorities and the Ministry of Education and Science to ensure the school is quickly restored and energy made independent.“We are continuously working to strengthen air defense and scaling up production of Ukrainian interceptors against jet-powered Shaheds to protect our cities and communities from such strikes,” he said.Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine had used its domestically produced FP-7 tactical ballistic missile in combat for the first time, marking a milestone in Kyiv’s push to build its own strike weapons as Russia intensifies its campaign on civilian infrastructure nationwide. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.