On Friday, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service SBU in Kiev, striking an important government building in an unprecedented incident, highlighting serious deficiencies in Ukraine’s air defenses.
The daylight attack was the first time an SBU building had been attacked in the four-and-a-half-year conflict and came after days of near-continuous Russian air attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
Authorities said 12 people were injured in the attack and emergency services were called to the scene.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the drone was aimed directly at the office of SBU head Oleksandr Pokrad in the building. The SBU later announced that Pokrad was safe and was not injured in the attack.
“I have instructed Mr. Pokrad, as soon as he is ready, to provide the Russian side with an appropriate and concrete response, and if possible, a response that reflects this attack. Our military will support this response,” Zelenskiy said.
Kiev has been facing eight days of attacks, with strikes hitting several buildings in the city center as well as warehouses and factories on the outskirts, including one that makes Coca-Cola.
At least 53 people have been killed and 134 injured in Kyiv city and the wider Kyiv region since the near-nonstop attacks began last month.
However, the attack on the SBU is a significant escalation and a sign that Kiev, which suffers from a critical shortage of interceptor missiles, is unable to defend its key assets from Russian attack.
Most of the attacks in recent days have been carried out by jet-powered drones.
These killer machines fly at speeds of up to 500 kilometers per hour (310 miles per hour) and evade Ukraine’s air defenses. They are also too fast for Kiev’s mobile fire groups, so the only way to shoot them down is with surface-to-air missiles or fighter jets, both of which are in extremely limited supply in Ukraine.
Russia has targeted Ukrainian government buildings since the start of the war and regularly carries out large-scale airstrikes against Kiev. Although they had attacked several ships in the past, they had never been able to attack such an important target during daylight hours.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha said the attack “required a decisive response.”
“Moscow launched this attack amid a renewed push for peace, demonstrating a true rejection of diplomacy,” Sibiha said, pointing to the fact that U.S. Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to visit Moscow and Kiev in the coming days.
“We call on our international partners to unequivocally condemn these actions and increase pressure on the Putin regime.”
The SBU is Ukraine’s internal security agency, similar to the FBI in the United States and MI5 in the United Kingdom. Among other things, it investigates Russian crimes on the territory of Ukraine.
The agency’s building is located in the heart of historic Kyiv, opposite the UNESCO World Heritage Site Saint Sophia Cathedral and up the road from two other landmarks: the Golden Gate and the State Opera House.
This story has been updated.
