Russia attacks the headquarters of the Ukrainian secret services in Kiev with a drone

A Russian drone struck the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kyiv on Friday, on Volodymyrska Street, opposite St. Sophia Cathedral. The device was aimed directly at the office of the head of the Ukrainian secret service, Oleksandr Poklad, who was not affected. However, the attack caused at least 12 injuries, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the attack and promised an “appropriate and tangible” response to Russia, “as far as possible, symmetrically to the blow received,” according to a statement published on the social network X.

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Retaliation is in the hands of Oleksandr Poklad, according to the same statement, in which Zelensky also reaffirmed his support for the Armed Forces.

The attack adds to a new wave of more powerful drones that Russia has been launching against the capital for 10 days, which has kept Kyiv under constant air attacks. According to local media, these are jet-propelled drones, faster and with greater range than the conventional Shahed drones used so far, which complicates their interception by Ukrainian air defense and makes them resemble, due to their speed, cruise missiles.

Early Friday morning, an airstrike damaged one of the main humanitarian warehouses of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Kyiv region, where medicines intended for the combat front were stored, without causing casualties among the staff, according to the organization’s spokesperson, Christian Lindmeier. Hours earlier, the Russian army had attacked logistics centers, ports, and energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the Odesa region, where, according to governor Oleg Kiper, one person died and five others were injured, including a child.

The SBU is also at the center of an internal crisis affecting the Ukrainian security apparatus. The agency is responsible for civil intelligence and counterterrorism, similar to the U.S. CIA, while the GUR, under the Ministry of Defense, operates directly against the Russian army. Its head, Kyrylo Budanov, was appointed chief of staff to Zelensky a few months ago, after his predecessor, Andrii Yermak, resigned amid a corruption case.

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On Wednesday morning, agents from the SBU elite unit exchanged gunfire with GUR soldiers during a raid on the home of Stepan Kaplunov, one of the leaders of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), the unit of Russian fighters fighting on the Ukrainian side and dependent on the GUR. In the confrontation, from which several videos have circulated, at least three GUR soldiers were injured.

There are different versions about the origin of the clash. The initial SBU version held that the operation sought to thwart an attack by the Russian secret service (FSB) against Kaplunov himself. Other sources from both agencies cited by local media suggest, however, that it was Kremlin intelligence that contacted Kaplunov to attack Kyiv authorities, and that his arrest by the SBU triggered the shooting. Kaplunov’s lawyer denies both versions and claims that it was the SBU itself that detained him irregularly. Kaplunov has already been released, according to his lawyer, cited by Ukrainska Pravda, although his whereabouts are currently unknown.

Zelensky described the incident as an “absolutely shameful situation” and ordered internal investigations in both services. The head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, called for a “thorough and impartial” investigation.

With these two episodes, the SBU concentrates this important Russian attack and an internal crisis in the same week, while the Russian drone offensive on the capital shows no signs of stopping.

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