Russian Drone Strikes Ukraine as U.S. Envoys Prepare for Peace Talks

On Friday morning President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a Russian‑launched drone had deliberately struck the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the heart of Kyiv. The building, tucked between the historic St. Sophia Cathedral and a row of international hotels, was gutted by fire and twelve people were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from minor cuts to serious burns.

"The drone was deliberately targeted at the head of the SBU’s office in that building," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, adding that acting security chief Oleksandr Poklad had already briefed him on the response. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the attack a “major escalation,” warning that Moscow was showing its “true rejection of diplomacy” even as talks were gaining momentum.

Meanwhile, in Washington, President Donald Trump confirmed that senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would be flying to Moscow first, then on to Kyiv, over the weekend and into early next week. "They are bringing with them a proposal to end the war," Trump said, though he offered no specifics on the itinerary.

Zelenskyy said he expected the two Americans to reach Kyiv on Sunday, after their Russian stop. He pledged that Ukraine would hold fire on its own side of the front while negotiations unfolded, and he urged Russia to reciprocate so that the talks could proceed safely. "We are concerned about their safety, not about Russia," the president added in a Telegram post.

Russia’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov declined to confirm the planned Moscow visit, saying only that the media would be informed if such a meeting took place. The last time Kushner and Witkoff were in Russia was in January, when they met President Vladimir Putin. After that meeting, a Russian aide described the discussions as “constructive,” but warned that any lasting settlement would have to solve the territorial issue.

At the same time, Russian forces continued their relentless bombardment across Ukraine. An overnight assault on the Odesa region left one civilian dead and at least five injured, including a child, while two multistory apartment blocks were damaged. In Dnipro, two police officers were killed, and a separate drone strike in Kyiv wounded three more after hitting a residential building.

These strikes, once mostly nocturnal, are now happening in daylight as well, keeping the front lines in the east and south largely deadlocked. The conflict’s civilian toll is mounting, and the fear‑some whine of air‑raid sirens has become a daily backdrop for many Ukrainians.

Across the border, Ukraine launched a large‑scale drone raid on the Black Sea resort city of Sochi and the nearby Sirius district. The attack ignited fires at at least one oil depot, highlighting Kyiv’s strategy of targeting facilities that fuel Russia’s economy.

In a related development, Finnish authorities discovered a Russian‑made Geoscan 701 drone washed ashore on the rocky Pellinge archipelago east of Helsinki. Officials are still investigating how the unmanned aircraft ended up in Finnish waters.