Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that he is ready to hold talks with Russia in Azerbaijan, where he is visiting. He made the announcement after a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and said the visit began with consultations with a Ukrainian expert team sharing experience in defending against Russian drones and missiles.
Zelenskyy arrived in Azerbaijan on Friday to sign defence and energy cooperation agreements. His trip follows a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Meanwhile, Russian strikes continued to inflict civilian casualties across Ukraine. Drone and missile attacks on the city of Dnipro killed at least five people and wounded more than 30, regional authorities said. Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipro region, said the bodies of four people were found in the rubble of a house destroyed overnight, and a subsequent strike on another apartment building killed a fifth person.
In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian drone struck a civilian minibus, killing one and wounding four, regional head Ivan Fedorov reported. Odesa region was also hit overnight, wounding two people. Regional governor Oleh Kiper said residential buildings, port infrastructure and cars were damaged in the southern part of the region.
A drone also crashed on Romanian soil, falling into a residential area of the Danube town of Galati. Romanian authorities said this incident caused material damage — the first such report since Russia’s 2022 invasion, according to local media. Emergency services reported the drone fell in a populated area and may have carried an explosive charge; there were no casualties, but an electricity pole and an outbuilding were damaged and gas supplies were cut as a precaution. Romania’s foreign minister, Oana Toiu, summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident.
Edited by: Sean Sinico