In Kyiv, during shelling, neurobiologist and researcher Igor Zima was killed alongside his wife. (UPDATED)

This was reported by business consultant Daria Dushechkina. Her husband, Ukrainian journalist and first secretary at the Ukrainian embassy in Kenya, Alexey Bobrovnikov, wrote in the morning that Zima was not responding. The couple had a friendship with the professor.

According to Dushechkina, Zima died along with his wife and their cat "simply at home in bed." That morning, Bobrovnikov was worried that the professor was not answering his calls.

From Bobrovnikov's message, it follows that Zima lived in a "Stalin-era building with a tower" opposite the National Bank building. In the morning of January 1, the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office published a photograph showing that the tower and the top floor of the building were destroyed.

The Kyiv City Military Administration reported that two people died under the rubble but did not specify their names or positions.

Updated at 22:08. Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovoy confirmed that during the Russian drone attack, neurobiologist Igor Zima and his wife — scientist, Doctor of Biological Sciences Olesya Sokur — were killed.

"The family dedicated almost their entire life to science, working for many years at the Institute of Biology and Medicine of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv", the minister stated.

More about Igor Zima

Igor Zima taught at the Institute of Biology and Medicine of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and worked at a private medical center that specializes in diagnosing and treating comorbidities in individuals with autism and other developmental differences.

He had over 40 years of scientific experience. His research interests included the study of the mechanisms of cognitive brain activity, emotions, attention, and decision-making systems, electrophysiology of neural networks, neuropsychology, and more.

Shelling of Kyiv

In the morning of January 1, Russian forces attacked Kyiv with strike drones. Debris from the drones fell in two districts of the capital — Pechersk and Svyatoshyn. In the latter, vehicles and garages were damaged as a result of the Russian attack. The tram line also sustained partial destruction.

In the Pechersk district of Kyiv, debris from the drones fell on the attic floor of a five-story residential building, causing a fire.

As a result of the morning drone attack on the capital, there are reports of six injured and two fatalities.