Security Service of Ukraine

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU, Ukrainian: Служба безпеки України) is Ukraine's primary domestic intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, roughly analogous in function to the FBI and MI5 combined. Founded in 1991 on the framework of the Soviet KGB's Ukrainian directorate, it handles internal security, counter-espionage, and increasingly — since 2022 — offensive operations against Russian military and economic targets.

The SBU conducted two significant infrastructure strikes against the Russian oil pipeline network in early 2026. On 23 February 2026, SBU assets struck the Kaleykino oil pumping station on the Druzhba pipeline in Tatarstan — one of Russia's most remote and previously considered secure pipeline nodes. On 21 April 2026, SBU assets struck the Transneft-Privolga pumping station . Together with the sustained drone campaign against refineries, these strikes contributed to Russian refinery throughput falling to 4.69 million Barrels Per Day — the lowest since December 2009 — and to Russia halting Kazakh crude transit to Germany from 1 May .

The SBU's oil infrastructure campaign focuses on economic chokepoints rather than purely military targets. By degrading the pipeline network that funds the Russian war effort, the SBU's operations represent a deliberate strategic choice to attack Russian fiscal capacity — one reflected in projections that Russia's National Wealth Fund liquid share could fall to roughly $12.5 billion by year-end 2026.