Drone strike kills two on Russian train as ministers meet in Paris

A Ukrainian drone strike killed two people and wounded 17 others on a commuter train in Voronezh, Russia, on Monday. Regional Governor Alexander Gusev confirmed the casualties, noting that debris from the drone fell on the moving train in a left-bank suburb of the city. The attack also ignited fires at several industrial businesses, a business centre, and a residential building in the central part of the city. Gusev stated that two of the injured were in serious condition and that no major damage occurred at the industrial sites.

Defense ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom gathered in Paris on the same day to discuss further support for Ukraine. This meeting follows a similar gathering in Berlin in June, where the five nations pledged continued backing for Kyiv. The ministers are expected to address the broader state of European defense and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Combat operations continued across the front lines during the talks. In southeastern Ukraine, a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia injured four people, according to regional Governor Mykhailo Semikin. Ukraine's emergency service reported that two additional people were hurt in Russian strikes on the Chernihiv region.

Russia's Ministry of Defence announced that its forces targeted a power station and a nearby warehouse in Kharkiv. The ministry also claimed strikes on a power station in the Khmelnytskyi region, port infrastructure in Chornomorsk, and a cargo vessel heading for Odesa that it said was used for military purposes.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined specific terms for pausing Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries in an interview aired on Sunday. He stated that Kyiv would stop these attacks only if Moscow ceases its strikes on Ukraine's power infrastructure. If Russian attacks on the grid persist, Zelenskyy said the United States should either allow the use of the Starshield system over Russia to detect missile launch sites or supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles.

Ukraine announced on Saturday that the Starlink satellite system and its military variant, Starshield, were fully functional again after more than a week of restrictions. These curbs had previously disrupted military operations and increased tensions with Washington.

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