On the evening of September 23, in the Pechersk district of Kyiv, a drone strike damaged the Parkovyi conference and exhibition center. According to the Kyiv State Emergency Service (SES), the building's roof was destroyed, a fire broke out at the impact site, which rescuers subsequently extinguished. The incident was reported by the city emergency service, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko in his Telegram channel, and the Lean Institute in Ukraine, which was holding an event at the center.
Timeline of the Strike
Throughout the day on September 23, an air alert was in effect over Kyiv, and footage of smoke over the Parkovyi conference center grounds was posted on social media. At 17:15, mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that a UAV had fallen on the territory of an unoccupied complex in the Pechersk district. Later, by 20:55, the Kyiv SES confirmed the strike on the exhibition center and clarified the nature of the damage: the roof was destroyed, and the fire at the impact site was extinguished.
Condition of the Building and People
The Lean Institute in Ukraine, citing Instagram, announced an "emergency incident" and damage to part of the Parkovyi building. According to its preliminary information, everyone present is alive and unharmed: "This is the most important thing right now. We hope that each of you is fine." No confirmed data on casualties or injuries directly in the building was provided at the time of publication.
Contradictory Data
There is a discrepancy in the wording of the parties regarding the status of the building at the time of the strike. At 17:15, Klitschko called the object an "unoccupied complex," while the Lean Institute reported that the damage occurred during the first day of the Lean Summit congress, meaning that a mass event with people present was being held in the building at that time. Thus, one version emphasizes the non-residential purpose of the object, while the other — the fact of congress participants being inside. Also, the initial online reports of a "hit" and smoke over the center were preliminary and were later confirmed by the SES as a strike with roof damage.
Consequences for Kyiv's Infrastructure
The strikes on the capital on September 23 also affected telecommunications infrastructure. It was previously reported that the shelling damaged the networks of the online bookstore "Knyzharnya Ye," causing some services to be temporarily unavailable. In addition, one of the capital's data centers was damaged in Kyiv, causing connectivity and access disruptions to certain services for UTELS and "Pavutyna" providers. According to available data, 41 people have been injured as a result of today's strikes on the capital.
