Zelensky and Aliyev condemn Russian strikes on Azerbaijani energy facilities in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone call on Sunday with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, during which the two leaders condemned what Azerbaijan’s presidential office described as Russia’s “deliberate airstrikes” on an oil depot operated by the Azerbaijani state company SOCAR in Ukraine.

They also discussed attacks on other Azerbaijani facilities in Ukraine, as well as on a gas compressor station that supplies Azerbaijani gas to the country.

In his own statement about the conversation, Zelensky said he had informed Aliyev about Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. “Ukraine considers this a deliberate attempt by Russia to block energy routes that guarantee energy independence for us and other European countries,” he said.

Zelensky also congratulated Aliyev on agreements reached between Baku and Yerevan, which he said had been achieved with the help of U.S. President Donald Trump.

According to Ukraine’s Energy Ministry, Russian forces struck a gas compressor station in Ukraine’s Odesa region that facilitates Azerbaijani gas transit to Europe early on August 6. Two days later, Russian drones attacked SOCAR’s oil depot in the same region.