Series of Russian Drone Strikes Hit Ukraine Through September 2026

In September 2026, Russia conducted a series of drone strikes across Ukraine, including one on a passenger bus in southern Ukraine that killed five people and injured at least seven, according to ABC News. Separately, on September 4, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service in the heart of Kyiv, an attack reported by BBC News, The Guardian, and Politico Europe; the strike occurred without warning and sent black smoke rising over the capital. Following the SBU headquarters strike, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the SBU's acting chief to prepare a response that would, according to Politico Europe, "mirror, if possible" the attack on his office. Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, described the strike as a "major escalation," as reported by The Guardian. Later in the month, on September 28, CBS News reported a separate wave of Russian strikes on Kyiv that killed at least seven people, including a woman struck during a daytime attack on the National Academy of Sciences building. The reports describe at least three distinct incidents occurring on different dates in September 2026: the bus strike, the SBU headquarters strike, and the later daytime strikes on Kyiv. It remains unresolved whether these attacks were coordinated as part of a broader campaign or represent isolated strikes, and the exact locations and casualty details for the southern bus attack were not corroborated across multiple independent sources beyond ABC News. The nature and timing of Ukraine's promised "tangible response" to the SBU strike, as ordered by Zelenskyy, had not been detailed in the available reporting.