Russian drone hits Kyiv security service headquarters amid diplomatic talks

A Russian jet-powered drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in central Kyiv on Friday, injuring twelve people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The building, located near St. Sophia Cathedral and several international hotels, is a key site for Ukrainian operations inside Russian territory.

Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram that acting SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad briefed him on the incident and that the drone was deliberately aimed at the agency’s office. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the strike as a “major escalation” and said it occurred as peace-talks were gaining momentum.

U.S. officials announced that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Moscow and then Kyiv later in the weekend to deliver a proposal for ending the war. Zelenskyy said Ukraine would refrain from airstrikes during the negotiations and urged Russia to do the same to ensure the safety of the delegations.

The drone attack coincided with a large overnight Russian strike on the Odesa region that killed one person and injured at least five, including a child, according to regional head Oleh Kiper. Separate attacks elsewhere in Ukraine killed two police officers in Dnipro and wounded three people in a residential building in Kyiv.

In Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike ignited a fire at an oil depot in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi and the nearby district of Sirius, officials said. The incident follows a series of Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities that have prompted Moscow to consider state control of critical infrastructure.

Finnish authorities are investigating the discovery of a Russian-made Geoscan 701 drone on a shoreline in the Pellinge archipelago east of Helsinki. The Border Guard noted that the model is used by both state and civilian operators and its intended use could not yet be determined.