Russia struck the headquarters of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) in central Kyiv with a drone on Friday, hitting an office used by security chief Oleksandr Poklad, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. The attack, one of the rare occasions Russia has successfully hit a Ukrainian government building, comes as Moscow appears to be intensifying strikes ahead of possible US-brokered peace talks this weekend, and has drawn condemnation from Ukrainian officials as a "major escalation."

Zelensky said the drone was aimed directly at Poklad's office and that he had ordered a "tangible response" mirroring the strike. Kyiv's mayor said five people were injured, and a nearby café was damaged, with one customer hospitalised; its co-owner said it was the third of his premises hit since the invasion began. Russia also said it struck vessels near Chornomorsk and Odesa. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are reportedly due to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday and Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday, continuing efforts to broker an end to the war.