Saturday 25 / April / 2026
Baku: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said his country is ready to hold talks with Russia in Azerbaijan, where he is currently visiting.
This announcement was made after the Ukrainian leader met with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.
Earlier, Zelenskyy wrote on X that he had begun his visit to Azerbaijan by meeting a Ukrainian expert team that is sharing their country’s experience of protecting the skies from Russian drones and missiles.
Zelenskyy arrived in Azerbaijan on Friday to sign agreements on defence and energy co-operation, after visiting Saudi Arabia, where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Russian attacks kill several people across Ukraine
Meanwhile, Russian drone and missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed at least five people and wounded more than 30 others on Saturday, according to local authorities.
According to the regional head Oleksandr Ganzha, the bodies of the four were found in the ruins of a house that was destroyed in overnight attacks.
“The Russians have been hitting Dnipro and other cities and communities practically all night,” Ganzha wrote on Telegram.
He also said that a later strike on another apartment building in the city killed one more person.
In the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian drone hit a civilian minibus, killing one person and wounding four, Ivan Fedorov, the head of the region’s administration, said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa region was also targeted in overnight Russian attacks, which wounded two people there.
On Saturday, regional head Oleh Kiper said residential buildings, port infrastructure and cars had been damaged in the south of the region.
Russian drone crashes in Romania
As Russia attacked Ukraine’s Odesa region, a drone fell in neighbouring Romania. The drone crashed in a residential area of the town of Galati, near the Danube River, which separates the two countries.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Romania, a NATO member, has repeatedly experienced violations of its airspace and found fragments of drones on its territory.
However, according to local media reports, this is the first time that debris from Russian drones has caused material damage on Romanian soil.
“A drone crashed in a populated area with a possible explosive charge,” emergency services said in a separate statement.
There were no casualties, but an electricity pole and a house outbuilding were damaged. The authorities added that gas supplies in the area had been cut as a precautionary measure.
Foreign Minister Oana Toiu summoned the Russian ambassador, according to the ministry statement.
