Russia strikes Ukraine intelligence HQ in ‘major escalation’

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 the 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.“Unfortunately, a Russian drone hit the central building of the SBU on Volodymyrska Street in Kyiv, opposite the St Sophia Cathedral,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. “The drone was aimed directly at the office of the Head of the Security Service in that building.”Kyiv has been under a barrage of daily drone and missile attacks from Russia for over a week. 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 several 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 a bid 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. “It’s a normal cafe,” he said. 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 that he did not feel at ease. “We are all waiting for another attack,” he said.The SBU is responsible for co-ordinating complex operations against Russia, including last year’s Operation Spiderweb which destroyed billions of dollars of aircraft inside Russia.The hit was “awful” said a Zavertailo cafe employee who had recently emerged from the underground shelter. As “a person who lives in Ukraine for all this time, it’s just hard”.The strike came two days before Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected to visit Kyiv for the first time. US-led diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s four-and-a-half-year invasion have stalled in recent months as the US has shifted its focus towards the war with Iran.Additional reporting by Illia Dyadik