A strike on the headquarters of the SBU in the center of Kyiv - a drone hit the office of the head of the service. What is known
Author, News Department
Published 4 September 2026, 13:24 GMT
Updated 4 hours ago
Reading time: 5 min
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that Russia struck the central building of the Security Service of Ukraine in the center of Kyiv. From his words it follows that the drone ended up in the office of the acting head of the special service, Alexander Poklad. According to media reports, Poklad was not in the office at the time of the strike. Russia has not yet commented on the strike. The attack occurred amid reports that US presidential special envoys are scheduled to visit both Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days.
“I spoke with the head of the SBU, Alexander Poklad. Unfortunately, a Russian drone hit the central building of the SBU on Vladimirskaya in Kyiv, opposite the St. Sophia Cathedral,” the President of Ukraine said in a telegram.
“The drone was sent directly to the office of the head of the SBU in this building,” Zelensky emphasized. According to him, he instructed the acting head of the SBU to “adequately, tangibly and, if possible, mirror” Russia’s response to this blow, “when everything is prepared.”
The drone hit Poklad’s office, he himself was absent at that moment, the Ukrayinska Pravda publication reported, citing sources, shortly before Zelensky’s statement.
Judging by the published photos, a fire started in the historic building on the third floor. Numerous videos from the scene show that the drone specifically attacked the SBU building, notes the BBC Ukrainian Service.
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, reported in X that as a result of the UAV strike, a fire started and the ceilings and outer wall of a “non-residential building” in the Shevchenko district were destroyed. According to him, the fire was soon extinguished, nine wounded were hospitalized, two of them in serious condition.
The Zavertaylo restaurant, which is located opposite the SBU building, was also reported to have been hit by a drone, the Ukrainian BBC service noted. A few tens of meters from there is St. Sophia Cathedral - according to the chronicles, it was built in 1037 by Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Eyewitnesses told Ukrayinska Pravda that the explosion sounded around 3:30 p.m., after which thick smoke rose in the area of the historical Golden Gate.
Russia has not yet commented on the strike.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian military has not attacked the country's political and military leadership, but Russia has carried out several drone attacks on SBU buildings in Lviv and other cities.
Attempts at a diplomatic settlement of the conflict with the participation of the United States were interrupted in February 2026 after the start of the war between the United States and Israel against Iran.
The day before, September 3, Zelensky announced the resumption of dialogue with the special envoys of the US President Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“There are preliminary dates. We expect to see representatives of the US President here in Kyiv. There is confirmation from them: the meeting will take place in Moscow and Kyiv. We look forward to a meeting in the coming days,” Zelensky said.
On Friday, February 4, the Russian TASS agency, citing sources, reported that Witkoff and Kushner “expect to arrive in Moscow, then in Kyiv, this is September 5-6.” The Kremlin refused to confirm the visit.
A Reuters source reported that Moscow is against a trip to Kyiv by Witkoff and Kushner, who have never visited Ukraine before.
“The Russians don’t want them to visit Kyiv and are trying to force them to change their plans,” the agency’s source said.
Russia's attack on the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine represents a serious escalation that requires a decisive response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said.
“Moscow launched this attack at a time of renewed efforts for peace, demonstrating that it truly rejects diplomacy,” he wrote in X. “The nearby UNESCO World Heritage site, St. Sophia Cathedral, was also under threat.”
Zelensky later said that “details” had been received from the US President’s team: Witkoff and Kushner would visit Moscow, “and Kyiv on Sunday.”
Witkoff and Kushner's last visit to Moscow was in January, when they held four-hour overnight talks with President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
In the summer, the Kremlin reported that the US-mediated negotiation process was frozen indefinitely. “The issue of peace negotiations - now this topic is deeply on pause, there are no new ideas,” Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on August 28.
However, Putin himself said on September 3 at the Vladivostok Economic Forum that there are chances for a peaceful settlement. The Russian President at the same time condemned Zelensky’s statement that the skies over Russia could become unsafe due to increased attacks by Ukrainian UAVs: “This complicates the possibility of holding bilateral peace negotiations.”
On September 1, after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization forum, Putin answered a journalist’s question “under what conditions are strikes possible and whether they are even possible against the military-political leadership of Ukraine.”
“As you can see, we don’t throw those kinds of punches. We proceed from the fact that we need some people for [negotiations]... Indeed, if they understand that they want to resolve issues peacefully,” said the Russian president.
Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine cede more territory than Russia captured during the war. Kyiv rejects his demands, considering their implementation tantamount to capitulation.
The strike on the headquarters of the SBU took place at a time when Russia has been continuously attacking Kyiv and the Kyiv region with drones, including jets, day and night for the ninth day.
Major General Poklad is the deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine. He became the acting head of the SBA in the summer, when the former head of the special service, Yevgeny Khmara, was appointed Minister of Defense of the country.
Zelensky announced in the evening that he had a meeting with Poklad. “The Russians did not achieve their goal - the head of the SBU was not injured,” the department’s press service said. — As for the damaged building, it will definitely be restored. And the Russians will receive a painful response to their blows.”
“We will ensure the normal functioning of Russian airspace so that the negotiators [Witkoff and Kushner] can arrive safely,” the Ukrainian president later said. “There will be no air strikes from our side, and Russia must respond by ensuring a lull without air strikes for the time necessary to conduct these negotiations and resolve logistical issues related to this American visit.”
