The American television channel CNN, in an article about a drone strike on the building of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the center of Kyiv, called the situation “a signal of the inability to protect key facilities” in the face of a shortage of interceptor missiles. Earlier this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the United States to replenish its stockpile of these weapons.
Zelensky on Friday, September 4, reported that a drone hit the headquarters of the SBU, which is located opposite the St. Sophia Cathedral in the center of Kyiv. According to the President of Ukraine, the drone was “directly aimed” at the office of the head of the department – the duties of the head of the SBU have been temporarily performed by Alexander Poklad since July.
“I instructed Poklad to prepare an appropriate, tangible and, if possible, mirror response to the Russians to this blow when everything is ready,” Zelensky said on his social networks.
CNN reported, citing Ukrainian authorities, that seven people were injured in the attack. Their identity is not specified.
“The strike on the SBU is a serious escalation and a signal of Kyiv’s inability to protect key facilities from Russian attacks in conditions of a critical shortage of interceptor missiles,” added the authors of the material published on the TV channel’s website.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga called on international partners to condemn the strike and said the St. Sophia Cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site, was in danger.
“Moscow struck this blow during a renewed peace effort, which clearly shows its abandonment of diplomacy,” Sibiga said on X (formerly Twitter).
The US government has not yet commented on the situation. President Donald Trump in July, during a meeting with Zelensky at the NATO summit in Turkey, said that he was ready to provide Kyiv with a license to produce interceptor missiles for Patriot systems. The Ukrainian president had previously sent letters to the White House and the US Congress asking for help to replenish supplies of shells for American air defense systems.
Late that month, the White House chief said he was “unsure” about the plan to grant the license. He mentioned concerns that “the people who are given such technology might then rebel” against the United States.
