Defence ministers of five major European countries to meet in Paris on increasing military support for Ukraine
Defence ministers of key European countries are meeting in Paris to discuss increasing military support for Ukraine. The ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom are set to meet in the French capital on Monday, as Russia and Ukraine continue exchanging attacks.
According to French officials, the meeting will discuss additional support for Ukraine, European defence and the regional conflict in the Middle East. At their previous meeting in Berlin in June, the five major European powers pledged continued support for Ukraine, seeking to send a clear signal to Moscow that Europe remains firmly behind Kyiv.
On Monday morning, a Russian strike on Ukraine's southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia injured four people, according to regional Governor Mykhailo Semikin. Two more people were injured in Russian strikes on the Chernihiv region the same day, Ukraine's emergency service said on Telegram.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Voronezh killed two people and wounded 17, regional Governor Alexander Gusev said. According to him, many of the wounded were passengers on a commuter train hit by falling debris from a drone. The attack also caused fires at a number of industrial businesses, a business centre in the central part of the city and a residential building.
Russia's defence ministry claimed its forces hit a power station in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, as well as a nearby warehouse, and a power station in the Khmelnytskyi region. The ministry also claimed it targeted port infrastructure in Chornomorsk in southwestern Ukraine and a cargo vessel en route to Odesa, which it claimed was being used for military purposes.
Four and a half years into the war, attacks are escalating on both sides, with Ukraine targeting Russian oil refineries and Russian forces bombarding Ukraine with relentless air strikes. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in the first half of November.
In an interview aired on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that for Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, which US President Donald Trump has demanded, Moscow must stop hitting Ukraine's power infrastructure. He said if the Russians continue, the US should allow the use of Starshield 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 now fully functional after more than a week of restrictions.
