The head office of Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency has been hit in a Russian drone attack, sending plumes of black smoke rising into the air in the heart of Kyiv. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he had instructed the SBU to deliver an “appropriate, tangible response” to the strike, while the foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, described it as a “major escalation”. The streets around the SBU headquarters were cordoned off shortly after Friday’s attack, with armed officers patrolling the area.
Numerous ambulances and emergency services vehicles were stationed around the site, which is close to St Sophia Cathedral, a Unesco world heritage site. The country is facing a critical shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors which can shoot down incoming threats. Many of the recent Russian strikes have been by new-model jet-powered drones which can reach speeds of 250mph, making them hard to intercept.
It is rare for government buildings in central Kyiv to be reached by Russian strikes, especially in broad daylight. The explosion from the hit on the SBU building could be heard from several blocks away. The incident is likely to intensify the escalating attacks that Moscow and Kyiv have been launching at each other in recent weeks in efforts to destroy each other’s resilience and morale.
It will also raise questions about Kyiv’s ability to defend its key infrastructure against Russia. Sybiha said the attack was “a major escalation that demands resolute responses” and called on international partners to “unequivocally condemn these actions and step up pressure on the Putin regime”. At least nine people were injured in Friday’s strike, according to Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
Stanislav Zavertailo, the co-owner of the nearby Zavertailo cafe, said one of his customers was injured in the strike, which sent shockwaves through his premises, shattering all the windows. The customer was “eating one of our famous poppy seed rolls” when the attack occurred, he added. Staff and customers rushed into an underground shelter after the strike, fearing a double-tap attack, a tactic which Russia has employed, in which a second drone is sent in soon after the first, hitting emergency service workers.
An hour later, there had been no second strike, but Zavertailo said he did not feel at ease. The SBU is responsible for coordinating complex operations against Russia, including last year’s Operation Spiderweb which destroyed aircraft worth billions of pounds inside Russia. Friday’s hit was “awful” said a Zavertailo cafe employee who had recently emerged from the underground shelter.
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