Russian drone hits Ukraine’s SBU headquarters in central Kyiv in first direct strike since full-scale invasion
A Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in central Kyiv on Friday, wounding at least seven people in the first direct hit on the agency’s main building in four and a half years of full-scale war.
Friday’s daylight strike followed days of near-constant aerial attacks on the Ukrainian capital. Emergency services were called to the scene, and Ukrainian authorities said seven people had been injured.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the drone was aimed directly at the office of SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad. “I instructed Poklad to deliver an appropriate, tangible response and, where possible, one that mirrors this strike, to the Russians once everything is ready. Our military will support this response,” Zelensky said.
The SBU is Ukraine’s main internal security and counterintelligence agency, comparable to the FBI in the U.S. and MI5 in the U.K. It plays a central role in investigating Russian crimes committed on Ukrainian territory.
The agency’s headquarters sits in the historic heart of Kyiv, directly opposite the UNESCO-listed Saint Sophia Cathedral and a short walk from the Golden Gate and the National Opera. The fact that a building of such sensitivity could be hit in daylight underscored the pressure now facing Ukraine’s air defenses.
The attack came after eight days of Russian strikes on Kyiv, a period in which multiple buildings in the city center were hit along with warehouses and factories around the capital. One of those strikes hit a Coca-Cola production facility in the suburbs. At least 53 people have been killed and 134 injured in Kyiv city and the wider region since the latest wave of attacks began last month.
Most of the recent attacks have used jet-powered drones that travel at up to 500 kilometers per hour, according to Ukrainian officials. At that speed they fly too fast for Ukraine’s mobile fire groups, leaving ground-to-air missiles or fighter jets as the only reliable defenses. Ukraine has both in extremely limited supply.
Russia has regularly launched mass strikes on Kyiv during the war and has hit a handful of government buildings. Even so, Friday appeared to be the first time Moscow managed to strike a target of this importance in daylight.
The attack also landed at a politically delicate moment. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow had deliberately chosen to strike during a renewed push for peace. “Moscow launched this strike during a renewed push for peace — laying bare its true rejection of diplomacy,” Sybiha said. He called on international partners to condemn the attack and step up pressure on Russia.
His comments came as U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were planning to visit Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days, adding to the sensitivity of the moment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.