Two Die on Voronezh Train as Five Nations Meet in Paris
French, German, Italian, Polish, and British defense ministers gather to coordinate aid while Ukrainian drones strike Russian commuter rail.
By Jason Kovalenko ·
The war has entered its fifth year with intensified strikes on both sides of the border.
Two people died and 17 were wounded when a Ukrainian drone hit Voronezh on Monday. Regional Governor Alexander Gusev confirmed that many of the injured were riding a commuter train in a left-bank suburb when debris fell from the sky. Gusev stated that two of the injured were seriously wounded on that specific train. The impact also ignited fires at several industrial businesses, a business center in the city center, and one residential building. He reported that the industrial sites sustained no major damage.
At the same time, defense ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom convened in Paris to discuss further support for Ukraine. French officials said the group would also address European defense strategies and the conflict in the Middle East. This gathering follows a June meeting in Berlin where the same five nations pledged continued backing for Kyiv to signal firm European support against Moscow.
Russian forces continued their campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure while the ministers met. Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine took a strike that injured four people, according to regional Governor Mykhailo Semikin. Ukraine’s emergency service reported that two additional people were hurt by strikes in the Chernihiv region. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed its forces hit a power station in Kharkiv, a nearby warehouse, and a power station in the Khmelnytskyi region. The ministry also targeted port infrastructure in Chornomorsk and a cargo vessel heading to Odesa, asserting the ship served military purposes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined a condition for changing Ukraine’s targeting strategy in an interview aired on Sunday. He said Kyiv would stop hitting Russian oil refineries, a demand from US President Donald Trump, only if Moscow halts strikes on Ukraine’s power grid. Zelenskyy argued that if Russian attacks on the grid continue, the US should allow the use of Starshield 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 version, Starshield, were fully functional again after more than a week of restrictions. Those curbs had disrupted military operations and increased tensions with Washington. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi during the first half of November.
