The Azerbaijani mayor of the city of Pyatykhatky in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, 61-year-old Hilal Isayev, has been attacked by a man armed with a knife.

Axar.az reports, citing Ukrainian media, that the regional police said that at around 10:40 on May 26, an unknown individual attacked the official and inflicted knife wounds.

Hilal Isayev was hospitalized in critical condition. According to preliminary information, he sustained a chest injury. The attacker fled the scene, and police are currently searching for him.

Investigators have opened a criminal case under Article 15 (Part 2) and Article 115 (Part 1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — attempted intentional murder.

According to Suspilne Dnipro, citing Volodymyr Fedorov, head of the information and analytical department of the regional organization of the Batkivshchyna Party, the attacker personally came to Isayev, and a confrontation broke out, after which he stabbed the mayor.

Fedorov said that the attacker is a well-known farmer and that Isayev had previously served as a regional council deputy. He added that the situation remains unclear and that doctors are fighting to save the mayor’s life.

The regional prosecutor’s office also confirmed that the attacker is a farmer. According to its press service, the conflict occurred near the city administration building rather than inside an office.

Hilal Isayev was born in the village of Livadirga in Azerbaijan’s Lerik district and graduated from Dnipro State Agrarian-Economic University. He previously headed the private agricultural enterprise “Kaspi,” and in 2015 was elected as a deputy of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council from the Batkivshchyna Party. In 2019, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada (9th convocation) from the same party but was not elected.

He has served as mayor of Pyatykhatky since 2020.