October 15, 2026

The U.S.-Ukraine Rift Widens

By Ivana Saric
Digital Editor, Council on Foreign Relations

Ukraine’s access to its military-grade Starlink satellite internet services was restored today, one day after connectivity was abruptly restricted.

The Starshield system, created by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and operated by the U.S. government, has been critical to Ukraine’s battlefield communications and operations. The cause of the outage is unconfirmed: Ukrainian officials blamed SpaceX, while Musk said the Trump administration was responsible. The disruption comes at a time of a sharp downturn in relations between Kyiv and Washington over attacks on Russian energy facilities

“The cut in Starlink access has a military and a political dimension,” CFR’s Stephen Sestanovich said. “It made it harder for the Ukrainians to sound air raid alerts and prepare to intercept incoming drones.”

The outage coincided with a massive Russian assault Wednesday, as Moscow launched dozens of ballistic missiles that struck Ukrainian energy infrastructure and left more than half a million people without power. Kyiv said the outage had disrupted combat operations against Russia.

Russia has continued to strike Ukraine this week, though U.S. President Donald Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” between Moscow and Kyiv on Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with the Financial Times published today that Kyiv’s pause on Russian refinery attacks was now “done.” Ukraine struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region today.

Zelenskyy also alleged in the interview that U.S. military officials had threatened to curtail intelligence sharing if Ukraine did not halt its energy strikes. That accusation followed Zelenskyy’s comments on Tuesday that Ukraine had received no warning from its Western partners about impending Russian strikes on Kyiv, though Trump told reporters the same day that U.S. intelligence sharing was ongoing.

Information exchange is an important bellwether of U.S.-Ukraine relations, Sestanovich said. “As the principal remaining form of U.S. assistance to Ukraine, intelligence sharing is either a sign of continued solidarity or of a collapsing partnership,” he told the Daily Brief.

Tensions between Ukraine and the United States have flared this past week as Trump struck a diesel deal with Russia and apparently surprised Ukraine with the energy ceasefire announcement.

The Daily Brief will continue bringing you the latest news and CFR analysis of the war in Ukraine as it comes.

Tell Us What You Think

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One Fun Thing: Sebastian Mallaby’s Funniest Moments from The Spillover

With Sebastian Mallaby bidding goodbye to his role as co-host of The Spillover to focus on a book about Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei, CFR’s video team put together a blooper reel from his time on the podcast. Check out his funniest moments in this YouTube Short. Luckily, he won’t be gone forever—expect to see him return to the show as an expert guest in the future. CFR’s Rebecca Patterson will continue hosting the show.

Watch the video

Staff Picks

Here’s a roundup of some of the best pieces the Daily Brief team has read, discussed, and enjoyed in recent days.

“China’s Next Frontier,” by Kathleen Curlee and Sam Bresnick for Foreign Affairs, argues that China’s advancing space program has “both economic and military implications.” They write that the United States should invest in new technologies and hedge against overdependence on SpaceX to prepare for a “multipolar space age.”
“Marco Rubio’s Wild, Wild West,” by CFR’s Ishaan Tharoor for the New Yorker, takes a closer look at U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent speech in Athens, analyzing the ways Rubio chose to invoke ancient Greek civilization.
“The President’s Dog Psychic,” by Jack Nicas for the New York Times, tells the story of the animal psychic hired by Argentinian President Javier Milei to communicate with his dying dog, Conan. Milei later called the psychic a “TOTAL GENIUS OF THE UNIVERSE.”
“Join the Post on a Road Trip in Eastern Ukraine. Don’t Forget Your Drone Detector,” by Steve Hendrix and Serhiy Morgunov for the Washington Post, explores how Ukrainians are adapting to the daily reality of Russia’s drone warfare, which is now the main cause of civilian casualties near the country’s eastern front.

Regional Roundup

Every day, the Daily Brief brings you a curated list of the top stories from around the world.

Africa

Rubio Calls for De-Escalation in Ethiopia-Eritrea Conflict. Rubio spoke to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed by phone yesterday and encouraged dialogue. It came as a rights group reported civilian deaths to the Associated Press. Fighting has spiked in recent weeks in northern Ethiopia between government forces and a Tigrayan rebel alliance the Ethiopian government has accused Eritrea of supporting.
AP: Cameroonians Protest After Rise in Femicide. Activists are pushing the government to consider a bill that would make femicide a crime. The country’s women’s affairs ministry says nearly seventy women have been killed because of gender-based violence this year.

Americas

Venezuela’s Maduro Pleads Not Guilty to New Torture Charge. Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores both pleaded not guilty to an updated U.S. indictment accusing them of torture on Thursday. The duo is expected to stand trial in June.
Costa Rica Opens New Mega-Prison. The country inaugurated a new maximum security prison yesterday in response to a surge in deaths related to organized crime. Costa Rica has historically been one of Central America’s safest countries.

Asia Pacific

Report: Tim Cook Says Apple Intelligence Approved in China. The Apple chairman told a Chinese state-backed newspaper today that the technology had been approved for use in China and that a test version would be operational this month. The test version reportedly includes image and translation tools, but does not include Siri.
Taiwan Eyes Deal to Buy Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) From Alaska Project. Taiwan is in advanced talks to invest more than $4 billion and purchase 6 million metric tons of LNG annually from a U.S. project. Trump described it as a major deal; Taiwan’s economic affairs ministry touted it as a sign of continued cooperation.

Europe

European Union (EU) Leaders Scrutinize Long-Term Budget. Multiple leaders criticized the proposed budget this week ahead of the start of an EU summit today, raising concerns that an agreement would not be reached by the end of the year.
NATO Contracts Probe Leads to Arrests in Norway. The EU’s criminal justice agency announced that five people had been arrested following a bribery and fraud investigation into shipping contracts for vessels used in NATO missions. The agency estimated the fraud had cost member countries more than $1 million. Additional searches took place in Germany and Romania.

Middle East

Two Container Ships Sink Near the Strait of Hormuz. A Singapore-flagged vessel and an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged vessel sank following separate attacks. There has been a steep increase in Iranian shipping strikes in recent days.
AP: Saudi-Led Coalition Claims to Have Stopped Medina Strike. The group said it had intercepted a missile over Saudi Arabia’s second-holiest city but did not assign blame. The Iran-backed Houthis, who have struck the kingdom repeatedly in recent days, denied responsibility. The group had previously said it would not attack airports in the holy cities of Mecca or Medina.

The Daily Brief

Host: Ivana SaricEditor: Xian Chiang Waren Email Operations: Eric RojasEditorial Director, News: Phil McCauslandEditor-at-Large: Robert McMahon Chief Digital Content Officer: Millie Tran

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