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A Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in central Kyiv on Friday afternoon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that it had targeted the head of the agency’s office.
The drone hit the SBU’s central building on Volodymyrska Street, opposite St. Sophia Cathedral and close to Kyiv’s Golden Gate area.
“I spoke with the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Oleksandr Poklad. Unfortunately, a Russian drone struck the central building of the Security Service of Ukraine on Volodymyrska Street in Kyiv, across from St. Sophia Cathedral,” Zelenskyy wrote in an X post.
“The drone was aimed directly at the office of the Head of the Security Service in that building,” he added.
The Ukrainian president also said he had instructed Poklad to prepare a response to the Russian drone strike in a “tangible” way.
“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,” Zelenskyy said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko later reported that nine people were wounded as a result of the drone strike on the SBU building.
The strike was reportedly carried out by a Geran-4 jet-powered one-way attack drone, which can reach speeds exceeding 500 kilometers per hour, making its interception extremely difficult. The drone, which is reported to have a range of over 850 kilometers, can also be equipped with an artificial intelligence-powered optical targeting system.
Notably, there were no reports of other impacts or any interceptions in Kyiv during the strike on the SBU headquarters, which means that the attack was carried out using a single drone that managed to bypass all air defense means guarding the Ukrainian capital.
While Russia continues to launch large-scale group strikes against Ukraine, in recent weeks smaller attacks with missiles and drones have been reported around the clock daily, with Kyiv being one of the main targets. This further strained Ukrainian air defenses, already grappling with a serious shortage in anti-aircraft missiles.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has not yet commented on the drone strike against the SBU headquarters, but Moscow repeatedly warned Kyiv in the past that it would target Ukrainian decision-making centers in response to escalation, especially attacks against civilian infrastructure. Zelenskyy also recently threatened civilian aviation over Russia.
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