We are hitting what is painful for Russia, and it is very painful
Zelenskyy actively develops regional security arrangements with Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, sharing Ukrainian military expertise and air defence capabilities. Ukraine continues long-range strikes on Russian infrastructure, inflicting tens of billions in losses, while prisoner exchanges and EU accession discussions progress.
- Zelenskyy visited Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia to develop regional security partnerships on defence, energy, and food security
- Ukrainian long-range strikes have inflicted tens of billions in losses on Russian oil production and manufacturing, reaching 1,000+ km inside Russia
- Russia and Ukraine exchanged 193 prisoners each on Friday, the second swap this month
- Four Ukrainian soldiers found severely malnourished on frontline; defence ministry fired the responsible commander
- Russian anti-aircraft missile killed 38 people on Azerbaijani passenger plane in 2024
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy visits Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia to forge strategic partnerships on defence, energy, and food security while Russia faces mounting losses from Ukrainian strikes.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stepped off a plane in Baku on Friday with a specific mission: to stitch together a network of security partnerships that could sustain Ukraine's war effort and its recovery long after the fighting stops. The visit to Azerbaijan, following recent talks in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, marks a deliberate pivot toward the Gulf states—countries with their own reasons to view Russian power with suspicion and their own vulnerabilities to the kinds of drone warfare that Ukraine has mastered over four years of invasion.
The diplomatic choreography reflects a hardening reality. Ukraine's relationship with Azerbaijan has warmed considerably since 2022, with Baku offering both rhetorical support for Ukrainian territorial integrity and tangible humanitarian aid. That goodwill has been reinforced by recent history: a Russian anti-aircraft missile mistakenly struck an Azerbaijani passenger plane in 2024, killing 38 people—an incident that fractured what had been a more delicate balance between Baku and Moscow. Now Zelenskyy is leveraging that rupture, offering Ukrainian military expertise and air defence capabilities in exchange for energy cooperation and food security arrangements that could help sustain his country through years of reconstruction.
The timing coincides with a grinding campaign deep inside Russian territory. Ukrainian long-range strikes continue to pummel Russian oil production facilities and manufacturing plants, with attacks reaching more than 1,000 kilometers into Russian soil. Zelenskyy, speaking to reporters on Thursday, described the damage in blunt terms: Russian losses from these strikes have reached tens of billions of dollars. "Of course, we are hitting what is painful for Russia, and it is very painful," he said. The strikes represent one of Ukraine's few asymmetric advantages—the ability to project force far beyond the front lines, to make the war expensive for an adversary with deeper pockets but less technological sophistication in certain domains.
Yet the war's human toll remains visible and immediate. On Friday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged 193 captured soldiers each—the second such swap this month and one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv. Photographs from the exchange in northern Ukraine showed prisoners stepping off buses, their faces pale but animated, wrapped in blue and yellow flags, embracing one another or speaking tearfully to family members on phones. These swaps, repeated thousands of times over four years, have become one of the only tangible results of peace negotiations that have otherwise stalled completely.
Back home, Ukraine's military leadership faced a reckoning over conditions on the front lines. The defence ministry fired a senior commander after photographs surfaced showing four soldiers in a state of severe malnourishment—their ribs visible, their arms skeletal, their pallor unmistakable. The images, posted to social media by the wife of one of the men, exposed what the brigade later acknowledged as logistical failures. The soldiers had been left in position for months without adequate food and water, in a location so close to enemy lines that resupply was only possible by air. The general staff moved quickly to replace the responsible commander, but the incident underscored the grinding strain on Ukraine's military apparatus.
On the diplomatic front, progress toward European integration remains uneven. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that Ukraine could not expect immediate accession to the European Union, though he suggested Kyiv might attend EU meetings without voting rights—a modest opening. Ukraine has been pushing hard to accelerate its membership bid as a way to anchor itself to the West and secure long-term support. Hungary's nationalist premier Viktor Orbán had been blocking progress, but his defeat in recent elections has raised hopes that the next phase of negotiations might move forward.
Meanwhile, Germany itself has become a target. German prosecutors launched a spying investigation Friday into phishing attacks against lawmakers using the Signal messaging app, with one MP describing the latest Russia-directed operation as a "wake-up call." Germany, Ukraine's largest military aid provider, has been absorbing a steady stream of cyber-attacks, espionage operations, and sabotage plots since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Moscow denies involvement in all such activities. The attacks suggest that as Ukraine courts new allies and deepens its partnerships with the West, Russia is working to destabilize the coalition supporting Kyiv from within.
Citações Notáveis
Ukraine is actively developing strategic security arrangements across three key areas: exports of military expertise and air defence capabilities, energy cooperation, and food security— Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukraine could not expect immediate accession to the European Union, but might attend EU meetings without voting rights— German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why is Zelenskyy suddenly focused on the Gulf states? What does Azerbaijan or Saudi Arabia actually offer Ukraine right now?
They offer three things Ukraine desperately needs: energy, because the war has destroyed so much of Ukraine's own infrastructure; food security, because the war has disrupted agriculture; and legitimacy for the military expertise Ukraine has developed. Ukraine has become a laboratory for drone warfare and air defence. The Gulf states have their own security concerns—Iran, for one—and they're willing to pay for that knowledge.
But these are countries with complicated relationships with the West. Isn't Ukraine risking something by getting too close to them?
Ukraine is past the point of ideological purity. It needs to survive. These partnerships aren't about ideology; they're about mutual interest. Azerbaijan has a fresh grievance with Russia after that plane was shot down. Saudi Arabia wants drone expertise. Ukraine wants energy and food. It's transactional, but that's how you build coalitions when you're fighting for your life.
The prisoner exchanges seem almost routine now—193 for 193, second time this month. Does that mean negotiations are actually happening?
Not really. These swaps are one of the only things that still work between Moscow and Kyiv because both sides benefit. You get your soldiers back alive. But they're not leading anywhere. They're a pressure valve, not a path to peace. The real war is still being fought—in the strikes deep inside Russia, in the malnourished soldiers on the front lines, in the cyber-attacks on Germany.
That story about the four soldiers—that's a serious failure. Does it suggest Ukraine's military is breaking down?
It suggests the strain is real and visible now. Ukraine's been fighting for four years with improvised logistics and stretched resources. When you're that close to enemy lines, resupply becomes nearly impossible. The commander got fired, which is the right response, but it's a symptom of a much larger problem: Ukraine is winning tactically in some places but grinding down everywhere else.
And Germany is being attacked while it's helping Ukraine. Does that change the calculus for Berlin?
It should clarify it. Germany is already a target because it's Ukraine's biggest military supporter. The phishing attacks, the sabotage—that's Russia trying to break the coalition from inside. If anything, it should make Germany more committed, not less. The alternative is to let Russia succeed in isolating Ukraine.