European Defence Ministers Gather in Paris as Strikes Continue in Ukraine and Russia

Defence ministers from five of Europe's leading military powers are meeting in Paris on Monday to weigh further support for Ukraine, according to French officials. France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom are also expected to address European defence more broadly and the conflict in the Middle East.

The talks follow an earlier meeting of the same group in Berlin in June. There, the five countries promised continued backing for Ukraine, aiming to show Moscow that Europe remains firmly behind Kyiv.

Fighting continued as the ministers gathered. Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine, was hit by a Russian strike on Monday morning that injured four people, regional Governor Mykhailo Semikin said. Ukraine's emergency service reported on Telegram that two more people were hurt in Russian strikes on the Chernihiv region.

Russia's Ministry of Defence said its forces struck a power station in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, along with a nearby warehouse, and a power station in the Khmelnytskyi region. The ministry also said it targeted port infrastructure in Chornomorsk, in southwestern Ukraine, and a cargo vessel heading for Odesa, which it claimed was being used for military purposes.

On the Russian side, a Ukrainian drone attack on Voronezh killed two people and wounded 17, according to regional Governor Alexander Gusev. Many of the wounded were aboard a commuter train in a left-bank suburb when debris from a drone fell on it. "A significant number of the injured, including two seriously wounded, were on a train that was moving in the left-bank suburb of Voronezh," Gusev said on Telegram. He added that the attack also started fires at several industrial businesses, a business centre in the central part of the city and a residential building, with no significant damage at the industrial sites.

Now in its fifth year, the war has seen attacks escalate on both sides. Ukraine has been targeting Russian oil refineries, while Russian forces have kept up heavy air strikes on Ukrainian territory.

In an interview aired on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would stop hitting Russian oil refineries, as US President Donald Trump has demanded, only if Moscow stops striking Ukraine's power infrastructure. If Russian attacks on the grid continue, he said, the United States should either allow Starshield to be used over Russia to detect missile launch sites or supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles.

Ukraine said on Saturday that the Starlink satellite system and its military version, Starshield, were fully functional again after more than a week of restrictions. The curbs had disrupted military operations and added to tensions with Washington.

On the diplomatic track, negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates during the first half of November.