Russian drones struck the heart of the Ukrainian capital on September 4, damaging a bakery belonging to the Zavertailo chain near St. Sophia's Cathedral in central Kyiv, co-owner Stanislav Zavertailo said.
It is the second time this year that an outlet of the family-run bakery chain has been damaged by Russian shelling. The bakery, which opened in April 2023 on the corner of Volodymyrska and Reitarska streets, was closed after the strike.
Zavertailo wrote on social media that Russia had once again destroyed one of their establishments, this time the site near Sofia. He said he did not know what more there was to say, and that he was on his way there, most worried about the guests and his team.
The bakery later confirmed on its Facebook page that the outlet near Sofia had been damaged by the shelling and was currently closed.
Second Zavertailo bakery hit this year
On May 24 this year, a Russian attack damaged the Zavertailo bakery on Mezhyhirska Street. That was the chain's first location, opened in the Podil district of Kyiv in May 2021.
The second Zavertailo bakery opened in April 2023 in the historic centre of the city, near St. Sophia's Cathedral, at the corner of Volodymyrska and Reitarska streets. That is the outlet Russia damaged on September 4.
Three days before the latest strike, the chain had opened a new bakery-workshop on Sichovykh Striltsiv Street.
Owners also lost cafe in earlier attack
Zavertailo is a bakery chain owned by Stanislav and Anna Zavertailo, who also run the Honey chain of cafes. On the night of August 28, 2025, a massive Russian attack on Kyiv destroyed the Honey cafe-confectionery on Zhylyanska Street.
Kyiv has faced repeated Russian drone and missile attacks throughout the full-scale war that Russia launched against Ukraine in February 2022, with strikes regularly hitting residential buildings and businesses in the capital alongside military and infrastructure targets.
Drone also struck security service building
On September 4, a Russian drone hit the central building of the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, on Volodymyrska Street, opposite St. Sophia's Cathedral. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the drone was aimed at the office of SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad.
The SBU is Ukraine's main security and counterintelligence agency, responsible for countering espionage, terrorism and organised crime. St. Sophia's Cathedral, built in the 11th century, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Kyiv's most recognisable landmarks, standing close to both the bakery and the SBU building hit in the same attack.
