A Russian drone attack on Friday afternoon struck the central Kyiv headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine, the state’s top counterintelligence agency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The attack “directly” targeted the office of Oleksandr Poklad, the acting head of the SBU, Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko separately said that nine people had been injured in a fire following a drone strike “on a non-residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district,” where the SBU headquarters are located. Zelenskyy said on Telegram that he spoke with Poklad after the attack, while Ukrainian Pravda reported that he was not in his office at the time of the strike.
Zelenskyy added that he had tasked Poklad with preparing an “adequate and tangible” response that would “if possible, mirror” Friday’s attack on the SBU headquarters.
The SBU has played a key role in Kyiv’s long-range strike campaign against Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Alongside Ukraine’s military intelligence and armed forces, it has been directly involved in attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and the country’s “shadow fleet,” particularly since Kyiv stepped up its campaign in 2026.
Poklad has led the SBU as acting chief since July 2026 and has pushed for long-range strikes inside Russia and reforms within the service, including a recent initiative to vet Ukrainian security agencies for Russian spies.