The New Indian Express ·
Russian drone hits Ukraine’s security HQ as US talks on the war are expected
KYIV: A Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s security service in central Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, ahead of diplomatic talks with U.S. officials on ending the war.
The air war between Russia and Ukraine has intensified as the conflict stretches toward five years since Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor. Russia recently has been using fast-flying, jet-powered drones, and the recurring wail of air-raid sirens has become part of daily life in Kyiv.
Ukraine's security service headquarters, near the historic St. Sophia Cathedral and international hotels, is among the agencies carrying out deep strike operations inside Russian territory. Twelve people were wounded in Friday's attack, local authorities said.
“The drone was deliberately targeted at the head of the SBU’s office in that building,” Zelenskyy said Friday.
Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram that acting security chief Oleksandr Poklad had briefed him on a response, including possible targets.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called Friday's drone strike a “major escalation” that came as potential peace talks were building momentum.
“Moscow launched this strike during a renewed push for peace — laying bare its true rejection of diplomacy,” he said in a post on X.
U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Friday that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Moscow and then Kyiv over the weekend and into early next week. The U.S. has not provided more specific timing for the stops.
“They are bringing with them a proposal to end the war,” Trump said.
This would be their first visit to Kyiv. U.S. efforts to negotiate a settlement have yet to produce a path to peace.
Zelenskyy said Friday that he was expecting Witkoff and Kushner to visit Kyiv on Sunday, after visiting Moscow. He said in a Telegram post that Ukraine will refrain from airstrikes during the negotiations and called on Russia to reciprocate to allow the talks to proceed safely.
“As with previous diplomatic visits by the American side, we will ensure the normal functioning of Russian airspace so that the negotiators can arrive safely. We are concerned about their safety, not about Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
Speaking with journalists Friday, presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to confirm reports that Kushner and Witkoff would visit Moscow, saying only that the media would be informed if such a meeting took place.
Kushner and Witkoff last visited Moscow in January, where they met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After that meeting, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov described talks as constructive but said that “reaching a long-term settlement can’t be expected without solving the territorial issue.”
Further talks have lost momentum, with the White House’s attention focused on its conflict with Iran.
The latest diplomatic developments coincided with a “massive” overnight Russian attack on the Odesa region that killed one person and injured at least five others, including a child, regional head Oleh Kiper said in a post on Telegram. The attacks damaged multiple residential buildings, including two multistory blocks.
Overnight strikes elsewhere in Ukraine killed two police officers in Dnipro, officials said, while a drone attack in Kyiv wounded three people after hitting a residential building.
Russian forces have relentlessly struck civilian areas. Previously, these attacks occurred mostly at night, but now they are happening during the day as well. The front line in eastern and southern Ukraine remains largely deadlocked.
In Russia, a large-scale Ukrainian drone strike hit the Black Sea resort city of Sochi and the nearby district of Sirius, regional officials said Friday. They said the attack sparked a blaze at an oil depot but gave no further details. Russian media outlets reported two depots were hit, with one fire in Sochi and another in Sirius.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted oil facilities that form the backbone of Russia’s economy, one of the world’s largest energy producers. Growing economic pressure and public frustration have mounted in Russia after months of escalating Ukrainian strikes on refineries and e-commerce hubs that have caused nationwide disruptions.
The barrages prompted Putin last month to decree that the state can temporarily seize control of critical infrastructure facilities if private owners fail to protect them from Ukrainian drone attacks or don’t rebuild them after strikes. Analysts said the move was aimed at forcing companies to pay for their own security and bring damaged assets back into service, despite the cost.
Finnish authorities said they were investigating how a Russian-made drone ended up on a rocky shoreline in the Pellinge archipelago east of Helsinki.
Finland’s Border Guard said what appears to be a Geoscan 701 drone, manufactured by a Russian company, was found on the shore. “The device model in question is used by both state and civilian operators, and it is not possible at this stage to determine its intended use or identify the country or entity operating it,” the Border Guard said in a statement.
State broadcaster Yle reported the drone was discovered Tuesday by a fisherman.
Geoscan describes itself as one of Russia’s leading drone manufacturers, and says the 701 model is designed for large-scale aerial surveying.