Reuters: What is Ukraine’s security agency, the SBU?

A Russian drone strike on the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service in central Kyiv has put the SBU, one of the country’s most powerful and secretive institutions, in the spotlight.

The SBU emerged from the Ukrainian branch of the Soviet KGB after Ukraine became independent in 1991. It has broad responsibility for domestic security. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, the agency has investigated alleged war crimes, countered cyberattacks, carried out counterintelligence operations and captured Russian agents.

Its Alfa special units have used drones against Russian military equipment, oil refineries and military sites deep inside Russia. The agency has also used sea drones against tankers carrying Russian oil. The SBU has claimed responsibility for some of the war’s most dramatic operations, including a truck-bomb attack on the Russian bridge to occupied Crimea in October 2022.

The agency also designed the 2025 drone operation code-named Spider’s Web, which struck several Russian strategic bombers at air bases deep inside Russia. It is widely regarded as a central player in covert attacks on senior Russian military and other figures whom Ukraine accuses of war crimes. Russia has denounced those killings as terrorist attacks.

SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad was appointed in July, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the drone targeted his office. The agency said Poklad was not injured. The number of SBU personnel is classified, although wartime law sets a maximum authorized staffing level of 41,000. The agency also has a long-running rivalry with Ukraine’s military intelligence service. A dispute between members of the two organizations escalated into a shooting in Kyiv this week, injuring several military intelligence officers. Zelenskyy ordered an investigation.