On January 3, 2026, a United States military missile strike severely damaged several buildings at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), the nation’s leading institution for basic science research.

Two missiles destroyed the mathematics building and cause significant damage to the chemistry, physics, ecology, and nuclear technology facilities. According to Venezuela’s Minister for Science and Technology, these buildings housed servers and infrastructure essential to their computer networks. The IVIC condemned the attack as an attempt to “destabilize” research in Venezuela.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about military forces targeting higher education facilities in armed conflict. Parties to a conflict may only attack legitimate military targets; where a party suspects that a civilian facility — such as a university building — is being used for military purposes, that party has a duty to take every action practicable to verify that this suspicion is correct before initiating an attack. In the event of such an attack, parties must take all practicable precautions to avoid or minimize damage to civilian facilities. Further, parties must refrain from launching attacks which may be expected to cause disproportionate damage to civilian facilities.

Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/us-air-strikes-seriously-damaged-leading-research-institute-in-venezuela/4022793.article
https://cen.acs.org/policy/US-airstrikes-Venezuela-science-infrastructure/104/web/2026/01