Trapped in inferno after Russian strike, Ukrainian scientist climbed to safety

Trapped in inferno after Russian strike, Ukrainian scientist climbed to safety KYIV, Sept 29 - Ihor Malchevsky focused solely on his family as he peered over the edge of his third-floor office window, thick black smoke billowing behind him after a Russian drone smashed into the historic building setting it ablaze. "My thoughts were about just one thing: how to rescue myself from this situation," said the 69-year-old, a deputy department head at Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv which was hit on Monday.

Malchevsky concentrated on his wife, two adult children and seven grandchildren. His fear of heights did not get in the way as he clambered onto a ledge outside the window to avoid the smoke and fierce flames. Images of Malchevsky and a colleague trapped in the burning Tsarist-era building fuelled fresh anger at Russia's escalating strikes on Ukraine's capital Kyiv and other cities.