Ukraine war latest: Russia strikes SBU headquarters in daytime attack on Kyiv, injures at least 12

Key developments on Sept. 4:

• Russia strikes SBU headquarters in daytime attack on Kyiv, injuring at least 12
• First airline cancels flights to Moscow amid Ukrainian threat to 'close' Russia's skies
• Ukrainian drones reportedly strike Russian defense plant over 1,300 km from Ukraine
• 2 Russian oil refineries cease operations after Ukrainian strikes, General Staff says

A Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) opposite St. Sophia's Cathedral in central Kyiv on Sept. 4, injuring at least twelve people, local authorities said.

An air raid alert was activated in Kyiv at around 3 p.m. local time, followed by explosions in the city center about half an hour later. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack damaged a non-residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district, without providing further details.

The drone was targeting the office of SBU acting head Oleksandr Poklad, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The SBU confirmed that the drone purposefully struck Poklad's office, but had not achieved its goal, as the SBU head did not suffer any damage. The SBU further said that "the Russians will receive a painful response to their blows."

"I gave Poklad the task of responding to this Russian attack in an appropriate, significant, and — if possible — symmetrical manner once everything is ready," Zelensky said.

At 6 p.m. local time Zelensky said Ukraine had decided where it will respond with retaliatory strikes, with only the timing left open "for maximum effect," following a report from Poklad.

Twelve people were injured in the attack, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration,  seven of whom had been hospitalized as of 5 p.m. local time, Klitschko said. The fire at the site was extinguished, but the attack damaged the building's exterior wall, the mayor added.

The drone strike in the heart of the city center has shaken those who live and work nearby.

"All the time we've been walking around this area, we felt safe," Alina Zamanova, an artist whose studio is close to the site of the impact, told the Kyiv Independent.

"I slept in the studio today, and whenever I sleep here, I feel like I'm super safe — I don't even think about going to a shelter at all," she said. "I guess not anymore, though."

Dmytro, 43, was driving to a meeting when the drone hit. He heard a "very loud explosion" but carried on to his meeting anyway "to do my job."

Dmytro urged those abroad to "keep supporting Ukraine" in its fight against "these barbarian eastern tribes which we have on our border now."

"You should help the one who is fighting them, otherwise you'll be fighting next," he added.

This is the first known Russian attack on the SBU headquarters in central Kyiv. On March 18, a Russian drone targeted Lviv, more than 460 kilometers (285 miles) from the capital, with debris from the downed drone falling on the grounds of the SBU's regional office.

"The Russian attack on Ukraine's Security Service Headquarters is a major escalation that demands resolute responses," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

"Moscow launched this strike during a renewed push for peace — laying bare its true rejection of diplomacy."

The Russian attack also damaged one of the buildings within the St. Sophia Cathedral and Related Monuments National Sanctuary, which includes an 11th-century cathedral.

Vadym Kyrylenko, first deputy director general of the St. Sophia of Kyiv National Sanctuary, said the strike hit about 100 meters from the complex, damaging windows and other elements in nearby historic buildings. The cathedral itself was not damaged.

First airline cancels flights to Moscow amid Ukrainian threat to 'close' Russia's skies

Air Tanzania has temporarily suspended flights between Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital, and Moscow, citing "safety considerations," the airline said in a statement on Sept. 4.

"The decision follows a routine risk assessment of the operating environment along the route," the statement said. "Safety considerations always take precedence over commercial ones."

The suspension comes after Air Tanzania flight TC 422, traveling from Zanzibar to Moscow, was forced to divert to St. Petersburg on Sept. 3 instead of landing at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport due to the closure of airspace around the capital.

Air Tanzania is the first carrier to suspend flights to the Russian capital after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened that "Russian airspace will effectively be closing" in his nightly address on Sept. 1.

"Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe," Zelensky said.

The president added that Ukraine would not target civilian aircraft, but that the presence of Ukrainian drones posed a significant threat to civilian air travel, which Russian authorities were refusing to acknowledge.

Ukrainian drones reportedly strike Russian defense plant over 1,300 km from Ukraine

Ukrainian drones reportedly struck a military-industrial facility in Sterlitamak in Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic more than 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from Ukraine, according to local reports and footage circulating on social media on Sept. 4.

The Sterlitamak Petrochemical Plant reportedly came under attack, Russian Telegram media channels reported. The facility produces aviation fuel and other materials used by Russia’s defense industry and has been targeted by Ukrainian drones several times previously.

Bashkortostan authorities acknowledged a drone attack on Sterlitamak’s industrial zone but did not immediately identify the facility struck.

The Kyiv Independent cannot immediately verify the reports. Ukraine’s military has not yet commented on the reported attack.

The extent of the damage caused was not immediately clear.

Sterlitamak has repeatedly come under Ukrainian long-range drone attack. Ukrainian drones struck the city’s petrochemical plant in November 2025 and again in April 2026, targeting a facility that supplies aviation fuel and other materials to Russia’s military-industrial complex. Most recently, drones also attacked Sterlitamak’s industrial zone on Aug. 27.

2 Russian oil refineries cease operations after Ukrainian strikes, General Staff says

Two major Russian oil facilities have suspended operations following Ukrainian drone strikes, Ukraine's General Staff said on Sept. 4.

Lukoil's NORSI refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, was shut down due to damage suffered in a Ukrainian drone attack on Aug. 26. The refinery is located about 800 kilometers (nearly 500 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

NORSI is Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery and second-largest gasoline producer, processing around 15-17 million metric tons of crude oil annually. It also produces bitumen, diesel and aviation fuel used to support Russian forces.

The General Staff also said the Novatek-Ust-Luga complex in Slobidka, Leningrad Oblast, had suspended operations following Ukrainian drone strikes on Sept. 1. Located about 850 kilometers (nearly 530 miles) from the Ukrainian border, the facility is one of Russia's largest ports on the Baltic Sea and home to an oil terminal that serves as a major hub for exporting crude oil and petroleum products.