Paris Defense Summit Opens as Drone Strike Kills Two on Voronezh Train

Two people were killed and 17 injured when a Ukrainian drone strike hit a commuter train in Voronezh, Russia, on Monday. Regional Governor Alexander Gusev said the attack occurred in a left-bank suburb, where debris from the drone fell on the moving train. He reported that the strike also ignited fires at several industrial businesses, a business center, and a residential building, though he described the damage at the industrial sites as limited.

The violence unfolded as defense ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom gathered in Paris for talks on Monday. French officials indicated the meeting aims to determine further support for Ukraine. The agenda also includes a review of European defense strategies and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. This is the second such summit for the group, following a June meeting in Berlin where the nations pledged continued backing for Kyiv.

Fighting continued on the Ukrainian front during the Paris discussions. Governor Mykhailo Semikin stated that four people were injured in a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine on Monday morning. Ukraine’s emergency service reported two additional injuries in the Chernihiv region from separate Russian strikes. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its forces targeted power stations in Kharkiv and the Khmelnytskyi region. The ministry also claimed it hit port infrastructure in Chornomorsk and a cargo vessel near Odesa that it said was serving military purposes.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined specific terms for a potential pause in attacks on Russian oil refineries in an interview aired on Sunday. He said Kyiv would halt those strikes only if Moscow stops hitting Ukraine’s power infrastructure. If the grid attacks continue, Zelenskyy stated that the United States should either permit the use of the Starshield satellite system over Russia to detect missile launch sites or provide Ukraine with Patriot missiles.

Ukraine announced on Saturday that the Starlink satellite system and its military variant, Starshield, had returned to full function. The systems had been restricted for more than a week, a period that disrupted military operations and heightened tensions with Washington. The war is now in its fifth year, marked by escalating aerial attacks on both sides of the border.

Diplomatic efforts are also advancing. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in the first half of November.