SBU Museum in Kyiv: Spies, Smugglers and Secret Gadgets

The Museum of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is one of the most fascinating museums in Kyiv. There is one small catch, though: the museum is located inside the SBU building itself, so you cannot get in without a pass. Don't be discouraged — there are at least two ways in. The first is to join the service and see the exhibits and lectures along with the other cadets. The second is to sign up for a visit as part of a tour group. The group leader must submit a request together with a list of everyone who wants to visit and their passport details. It may sound complicated, but this is the SBU museum, after all — checking everyone's details is what they do.

Once you are inside the building, you won't regret going through all the screening.

The museum is everything you have seen in crime thrillers and read in detective stories: bugging devices, homemade bombs and tripwires, toys stuffed with drugs, threatening letters, confiscated weapons and counterfeit money — all the things the Security Service deals with in its work to keep the country safe.

You can also learn about many criminals who once made a lot of noise in Ukraine, such as Amiran Ebralidze, one of the most dangerous crime bosses, who spent more than 30 years of his life behind bars.

History buffs can hear the story of the capture of Taras Bublyk, a spy who in Soviet times passed materials to German intelligence agents (he was equipped with very effective spy gear for the era: a mini voice recorder and a camera with ultra-sensitive film). They can also see works of art seized from smugglers: antique books and engravings, icons and all kinds of jewelry.

A separate exhibition is dedicated to the elite Alpha special forces unit, featuring the team's gear and weapons, including a multipurpose scout knife.

You can also see the ingenious devices drug traffickers use to move their goods, deadly contraptions that could have caused massive casualties but were seized by operatives in time, KGB archive materials related to the Chornobyl disaster, and much, much more.

It is impossible to describe everything you can see at the SBU museum — you have to come and see it for yourself.

Address: 35 Volodymyrska Street, Kyiv.