A Russian drone struck the SBU headquarters in central Kyiv for the first time in the full-scale war, injuring 12 people in a strike aimed at the agency chief's office.
On September 4, a Russian attack drone struck the central building of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) on Volodymyrska Street in Kyiv, directly across from St. Sophia's Cathedral — the first time the SBU headquarters has been hit in more than four and a half years of full-scale war. According to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, 12 people were injured, nine of whom were hospitalized, two in serious condition. Volunteers Support Ukraine is highlighting this story because a strike at the very heart of the capital's historic center affected ordinary people nearby, not only a government institution.
Available information indicates the drone was flying directly toward the office of SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad, who was unharmed at the time of the strike. The Security Service said it had received information the day before from partners about preparations for a strike on the building, so staff had already been evacuated as much as possible.
Police immediately cordoned off the surrounding block: the street was blocked with concrete and plastic barriers, and ambulances and fire trucks arrived on scene. Officers interviewed witnesses right there while rescuers worked near the damaged building.
The blast wave damaged more than just the SBU building itself: it blew out windows at the neighboring Zavertailo restaurant, scattering glass across the tables of its outdoor terrace, and tore away part of the entrance and facade onto the sidewalk.
Damage was also visible on the facade of a neighboring building — blown-out windows, torn frames, and shattered entrance glass scattered across the steps beneath a Ukrainian flag that kept flying above the doorway.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the strike on the SBU "a serious escalation that demands a decisive response" and evidence that Moscow is rejecting diplomacy just as a new round of talks gets under way. Volunteers Support Ukraine keeps helping people affected by the war in whatever way its available resources allow, including those hurt by strikes right in the heart of the capital.
