(KYIV, UKRAINE) – A Russian drone strike has hit the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine in central Kyiv, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to order retaliatory strikes against Russian targets.
The daytime attack occurred as US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner prepare to travel to Moscow and Kyiv in an effort to revive peace negotiations. The strike on the SBU headquarters demonstrates the ongoing threat facing the Ukrainian capital, which has endured daytime attacks for nine consecutive days.
President Zelenskyy confirmed he has spoken to Oleksandr Plad, the head of the SBU, following the attack. The incident highlights the urgent need for enhanced air defence capabilities in Ukraine. A drone was able to travel in the middle of the day to target one of Ukraine’s most important government buildings in the heart of the capital.
The attack comes as Witkoff and Kushner are expected to begin a process of negotiations with Ukraine. They are scheduled to visit Moscow on Saturday before travelling to Kyiv. However, doubts surround the Kyiv leg of the visit. Witkoff reportedly does not want to travel to Kyiv by train, preferring to travel by plane instead.
No commercial flights have operated in Ukraine since the full scale invasion began. Even former US President Joe Biden travelled by train during his 2023 visit. There is no likelihood of aircraft being permitted to travel through Ukrainian airspace while Russian drone and missile attacks continue.
The visit has already been postponed once. Witkoff was originally scheduled to visit at the end of August for Ukraine’s independence day. Reporting from Kyiv for TVP World, Mos Katagi noted that Russia continues to launch daytime attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
US President Donald Trump expressed optimism ahead of his peace negotiators’ weekend trip to Moscow and Kyiv. He said his administration has a plan to end the war in Ukraine and that there may be a good chance to achieve peace this time.
“I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done and there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,” Trump said. “We have an idea for peace.”
Trump added that there is a personality problem in Russia and Ukraine. “You have President Zelenskyy and President Putin. They truly hate each other. Do you know what hate is? They have serious hate,” he said.
Ukrainian media reports that the country’s military has been ordered to cease fire on land and at sea for the duration of the US negotiators’ trip. Russia has rejected the peace talks truce and launched overnight strikes against Ukraine.
Four people were killed and six injured in an attack on an industrial site in the city of Kamianske in the Dnipropetrovsk region in central eastern Ukraine. Two more people were injured in the Kyiv region where Russian strikes damaged two warehouses and a nine storey residential building.
According to Ukraine’s state emergency service, Oleksandr Hanza, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said his region was targeted by Russian drones, artillery and missiles approximately 30 times overnight. Attacks were also reported in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
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