Ukraine has given up on Donald Trump’s "energy ceasefire" with Russia, as Volodymyr Zelensky has declared that “we’re done” supporting it.
Kyiv's forces struck Russian oil refineries on Thursday, defying the US president and his ceasefire. Russian president Vladimir Putin vowed to retaliate.
Trump said Ukraine's resumption of strikes on Russian refineries was a 'disgrace' that would keep global energy prices elevated. "I'm not a big fan of Zelensky," he told Newsmax. "I think they actually both would like to see it end, but I think I find Zelenskiy to be more difficult to deal with than Putin."
After Trump's surprise announcement on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, Kyiv had suspended strikes on Russian refineries, which Trump blamed for raising global diesel prices.
But in the days that followed, Russia was accused of launching missile and drone strikes on energy targets such as power stations.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, Zelensky, who met British prime minister Andy Burnham this week, said Ukraine's patience with the "energy ceasefire" had run out.
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Key Points
- Zelensky says Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian refineries
- Trump ‘blindsided’ his own Ukraine peace envoys by agreeing diesel deal with Putin
- Energy ceasefire is 'the worst version peace', Zelensky says
- Ukraine's Starshield functionality in motion has been restored, source says
Trump says he is talking to Russia and China about denuclearization
05:00 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarUS president Donald Trump said Washington was holding talks with Moscow and Beijing aimed at denuclearizing the countries with the biggest stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
Russia has the most stored nuclear warheads, followed by the United States and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The US outpaces Russia on its number of deployed warheads.
During an interview with Newsmax, Trump said he expects China to "catch up" with the US within the next five years.
"The whole thing is a shame, because I'd love to denuclearize if possible, but we're actually talking to Russia about that, and we're talking to China about that denuclearization," Trump told the outlet.
Order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside White House - report
04:13 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarThe order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, two US officials and a Western official told Reuters.
The officials said leaders at the defence department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed.
The officials did not specify who in the White House made the decision or who was responsible for implementing the order. The Pentagon is the biggest customer of Starshield, which is the military-grade version of the Starlink service.
Ukrainian officials said this week that military-grade Starlink receptors stopped working in Ukraine when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of Ukrainian drones that rely on them for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory.
What is Starlink and why is it so important for Ukraine?
03:00 , James ReynoldsUkrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the United States of withdrawing vital intelligence and weakening the ‘Starlink’ communications service at a crucial time in the Russian invasion, amid a burgeoning row with US president Donald Trump over strikes on Russian oil facilities.
Elon Musk’s Starshield - the military version of Starlink - has provided a lifeline to Ukraine in helping to defend against incoming attacks, as well as striking Russian targets. But Ukrainian officials on Wednesday began reporting trouble with terminals moving at speed.
The reasons for the difficulties were not immediately clear but followed another souring of relations between Trump and Ukraine, after he announced a deal to waive sanctions on Russian diesel and called for Zelensky to be replaced.
Explained in full:
What is Starlink and why is it so important for Ukraine?
Ukraine has ‘broken Russia’s advance capability’ claims former general
02:00 , James ReynoldsUkraine has “broken Russia’s ability to advance” by killing so many of its soldiers, Kyiv’s former top general has claimed.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed Russia’s overall war losses were six times higher than Ukraine’s, adding that “if you count only dead, then it’s up to 11 times”.
It comes weeks after an investigation by Russian independent outlet Mediazona identified the names of 258,989 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine.
British intelligence agency GCHQ said in May that nearly 500,000 Russian troops have been killed since Moscow launched the war in February 2022.
The story in full:
Ukraine has ‘broken Russia’s ability to advance’, claims Kyiv’s former top general
Broken dating apps and delayed takeaways: How Ukrainian strikes on data centres are upending daily life in Russia
01:00 , James ReynoldsAfter battering Russia’s version of Amazon, Ukraine has set its sights on data centres - dealing an unlikely blow to Moscow’s dating scene.
A barrage of attacks on data centres and telecommunications infrastructure has wreaked havoc on Russian daily life, including three strikes in the past week on buildings owned by Yandex - the Russian equivalent of Google.
Yandex said its infrastructure had been damaged, causing the complete shutdown of its data centre in the Vladimir region on Sunday. On Wednesday, Kyiv’s drones struck a data centre owned by Sberbank, the country’s largest bank.
Russians complain about broken dating apps and takeaway delays after Ukraine strikes
What is Starlink and why is it so important for Ukraine?
Friday 16 October 2026 00:00 , James ReynoldsUkrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the United States of withdrawing vital intelligence and weakening the ‘Starlink’ communications service at a crucial time in the Russian invasion, amid a burgeoning row with US president Donald Trump over strikes on Russian oil facilities.
Elon Musk’s Starshield - the military version of Starlink - has provided a lifeline to Ukraine in helping to defend against incoming attacks, as well as striking Russian targets. But Ukrainian officials on Wednesday began reporting trouble with terminals moving at speed.
The reasons for the difficulties were not immediately clear but followed another souring of relations between Trump and Ukraine, after he announced a deal to waive sanctions on Russian diesel and called for Zelensky to be replaced.
Explained in full:
What is Starlink and why is it so important for Ukraine?
The Independent View: Trump is abandoning Ukraine to its bleakest winter yet
Thursday 15 October 2026 23:00 , James ReynoldsEditorial: Battered by President Putin’s war of terror and apparently losing crucial support from US intelligence and Elon Musk’s Starlink, Kyiv’s brave citizens are closer to cracking than they have been since the start of the war
Trump is abandoning Ukraine to its bleakest winter yet
Streeting and Hegseth welcome return of Starlink to Ukraine
Thursday 15 October 2026 22:32 , Bryony GoochBritain's defence minister said he and US defense secretary Pete Hegseth welcomed the restoration of the Starlink service in Ukraine in talks on Thursday, and he stressed the need to move forward in supporting Kyiv following renewed discord between the US and Ukrainian leaders.
In an appearance on Fox News' "The Story with Martha MacCallum," Wes Streeting said it was "not the first time we've seen a falling out between President Trump and President Zelensky."
"It is, I think, important after events of recent days that we move forward in a collective spirit," he said, adding that he had quoted Saint Francis of Assisi in his meeting with Hegseth at the Pentagon: "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony."
"The UK sees our role and responsibility at times like this to bring our friends back together again," Streeting said.
"We need President Trump engaged on Ukraine. He has been, and the diplomatic track is as important in ending the war as making sure Ukraine has the weapons it needs to see off Russian aggression," he said.
Britain pledges £17 million to repair Chernobyl power plant
Thursday 15 October 2026 22:00 , James ReynoldsBritain is to finance essential repairs at the Chernobyl nuclear site following a Russian drone strike, as Andy Burnham sought to reinforce support for Ukraine during "dark and difficult days" for the nation.
The UK will contribute £17 million towards restoring the plant's protective shelter and ventilation systems damaged in an attack last year, following concerns that corrosion could pose long-term safety and environmental hazards.
Britain pledges £17m to repair Chernobyl power plant hit by Russian drone strike
Recap: Kemi Badenoch vows to build £10bn ‘Britannia Shield’ to fend off missile attacks
Thursday 15 October 2026 21:00 , James ReynoldsKemi Badenoch has pledged to build Britain its own £10bn ‘Iron Dome’ missile interception system aimed at protecting the UK from future military attacks.
The system, called “Britannia Shield”, would provide a network of radar, command and control systems to detect incoming strikes along with interceptor missiles and counter-drone capabilities.
Announcing the pledge on the third day of the party’s annual conference in Birmingham last week, the leader of the opposition accused Labour of failing to keep the country safe and said she would slash the UK’s welfare bill to fund her defence plans.
Read the full story:
Kemi Badenoch vows to build £10bn ‘Britannia Shield’ to fend off missile attacks
Member Exclusive: Elon Musk has shown why Trump and the US are the enemy within
Thursday 15 October 2026 20:00 , James ReynoldsTrump’s moves against Ukraine – including a diesel deal with Putin and a row over restricting Starlink – mean he must now be seen as a hostile force in Europe, explains world affairs editor Sam Kiley:
Elon Musk has just shown why Trump and the US are now the enemy within
I spent a night with Shakhtar fans in London – here’s what it was like
Thursday 15 October 2026 19:00 , James ReynoldsAfter Russia annexed the Donbas region in 2014, Shakhtar Donetsk have not played at their stadium for 12 years. This season, they will play their Champions League home games in west London.
Kieran Jackson sat with the punters – male and female, old and young, friends and family – for an altogether different spectator vibe:
Why a night with Shakhtar fans in London was the ultimate feel-good experience
Putin: Russia will respond to Ukraine strikes on refineries
Thursday 15 October 2026 18:00 , Bryony GoochRussian president Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that recent Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries had not caused significant damage, Interfax news agency reported.
Russia will respond to these strikes, Putin said.
Kremlin says Russia restarts diesel exports after deal with Trump
Thursday 15 October 2026 18:00 , James ReynoldsThe Kremlin said on Thursday that Russian diesel had begun to reach global markets following an agreement with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said last week that Russia had agreed to supply diesel to global markets in an effort to lower fuel prices, while Moscow partially lifted its ban on diesel exports from October 10 following the agreement.
"The diesel has started reaching global markets and is expected to have a positive effect on stabilising oil markets, although it will not be enough to fully stabilize them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a daily conference call.
LSEG data showed on Wednesday that Russia had resumed diesel export loadings from the Baltic port of Primorsk.
According to the shipping data, a tanker carrying around 40,000 metric tons of ultra-low sulphur diesel was loaded on October 13 and was heading towards Morocco.
Full story: Zelenskyy accuses Putin of disrespecting Trump with strikes on Ukraine
Thursday 15 October 2026 17:30 , James ReynoldsVolodymyr Zelensky said that a massive Russian air attack on power plants in Ukraine showed Moscow’s contempt for Donald Trump’s energy ceasefire, as Europe threw its weight behind Kyiv.
Writing on social media on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president condemned a Russian ballistic missile strike on “the very infrastructure covered by the ceasefire announced by the American president”.
“The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale,” he added. “Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect towards the United States. Russia does not consider the American president’s statements strong.”
In full:
Zelenskyy accuses Putin of disrespecting Trump with renewed strikes on Ukraine
Russia's oil and gas revenue seen up 10% y/y in October to $12 billion
Thursday 15 October 2026 17:00 , ReutersRussian federal budget revenue from oil and gas taxes is expected to increase by 10% year on year in October to reach 1 trillion roubles ($11.97 billion), according to a Reuters calculation.
Russia, the world's third-largest oil producer and exporter after the United States and Saudi Arabia, relies heavily on oil and gas sales, which help finance its military campaign in Ukraine.
The revenue from oil and gas taxes account for about a fifth of total government income.
Those revenues are expected to more than double this month from September largely due to quarterly payments of the additional profit-based tax on oil production.
Excluding the tax, October revenue is expected to exceed September levels by about 164 billion roubles, or 36%.
Global oil prices have soared as the conflict in the Middle East disrupts supplies. However, the positive effect of higher oil prices will be partly offset by an estimated 5% decline in production in the third quarter of 2026 compared with the same period of 2025.
Putin says Russia will respond to attacks on oil
Thursday 15 October 2026 16:50 , James ReynoldsRussian president Vladimir Putin says that Russia will respond to Ukraine's strikes on refineries, according to the Interfax news agency.
Ukraine renews strikes on Russian oil after Trump oil spat
Thursday 15 October 2026 16:30 , James ReynoldsUkraine struck a Russian oil refinery on Thursday, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was "done" supporting a ceasefire on energy targets announced by US President Donald Trump and ignored by Russia.
Since Trump's surprise announcement on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt attacks on energy, Kyiv had suspended attacks on Russian refineries, which Trump blames for raising diesel prices on global markets.
But in the days that followed, Russia rained down deadly missile and drone strikes, including on energy targets such as power stations, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine's patience had run out. He told the newspaper: “The block (on attacking refineries) is out. We're done.”
By effectively walking away from Trump's demand that Ukraine halt attacks on refineries, Zelenskiy risks deepening the biggest rift between Kyiv and Washington since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
What happens now as Starshield functionality is restored?
Thursday 15 October 2026 16:00 , James ReynoldsA source in Ukraine’s defence ministry told Reuters on Thursday that Starshield satellite functionality while in motion has now been restored, a day after the service was throttled at speeds over 100mph. Zelenskyy’s office confirmed Starlink’s functionality was back in comments to the FT.
The source said the defence ministry would continue to seek clarification on the reasons for Wednesday's disruption of the military-grade version of SpaceX's internet service.
The dispute has exacerbated tensions between Ukraine and the US, with Zelenskyy vowing to restart strikes on Russian oil refineries, expressing annoyance at the disruption to intelligence and Starlink as well as Washington’s recent business deals with Russia.
The US president was roundly criticised after announcing a deal last week to lift sanctions on Russia in return for Moscow releasing a limited quantity of diesel to the US and global market.
Trump has sought to bring down energy prices for American voters ahead of the November midterms and pinned the blame on Ukraine for striking refineries inside Russia, even as Russia carries out similar attacks the other way.
Asked whether Ukraine would be open to halting energy strikes as a way of repairing relations with the White House, Zelenskyy told the FT he could only agree if in return he was given more US-made Patriot interceptors, calling it the “minimum” that would be acceptable.
What happened to Ukraine’s Starshield access?
Thursday 15 October 2026 15:30 , James ReynoldsUkrainian officials on Wednesday said Starshield services had been slowed across the country, hampering frontline operations and medium-range strikes against Russian military sites.
Ukrainian military officials initially accused SpaceX of interrupting the functioning of its military grade-terminals when they were moving at high speed. Kyiv installs SpaceX receptors on many of its drones as part of their onboard guidance systems. They operate across Ukraine, including in occupied territories.
“Our defence forces did not receive a warning about this limitation, and this led to the disruption of several missions,” presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram, saying the restriction affected Starshield.
The speed cutoff hampers Ukraine's ability to conduct strikes on Russian targets inside Ukraine, and also to defend itself from Russian drones using its own interceptor drones, according to a defence ministry source and another military source.
Beskrestnov said SpaceX had imposed a speed limit of 160 kph (100 mph). The defence ministry source told Reuters that military units had reported guidance systems losing their connections at speeds of less than half that.
Despite Musk saying Starshield was owned and controlled by the US government, the suggestion SpaceX had limited involvement drew a sharp response from Poland, which pays for Ukrainian Starlink subscriptions on Kyiv’s behalf.
“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?” Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski asked Musk on X. “As your European customers, we are watching you.”
AI military officers could be making battlefield decisions by 2030, says former CIA chief
Thursday 15 October 2026 15:00 , James ReynoldsAI military officers could be making decisions on the battlefield within just four years, the former head of the CIA has said amid growing debate over the use of the technology in war.
Ret. Gen. David Petraeus said he believed that warfare would begin to see the adoption of AI staff officers that are capable of gathering information and making decisions with little to no human input by 2030.
“Just four years from now, we will have autonomous systems, and I think we will have the beginning of autonomous systems of autonomous systems; we will have AI agents, so you'll have agentic AI staff officers,” he told investor Finn Murphy on the Forecast2050 podcast, to be released on Thursday.
AI officers could be making battlefield decisions by 2030, says former CIA chief
What are Starlink and Starshield?
Thursday 15 October 2026 14:30 , James ReynoldsStarlink, the main profit engine of SpaceX, is an internet network of more than 11,000 satellites that beam broadband service directly to user terminals about the size of a folded newspaper. Its roughly 13 million subscribers range from households and hikers to shipping companies and major airlines.
Since launching its first Starlink satellites in 2019, the company has built a vast low-Earth-orbit constellation that blankets much of the planet, delivering faster connections than traditional communications satellites, which typically operate much farther from Earth and in far smaller numbers.
Starlink gave Ukraine a critical communications advantage early in the war, reshaping how militaries operate on the battlefield. But Musk has restricted it for certain military uses while highlighting Starshield, a more secure network developed by the US Pentagon for government and military missions.
Unveiled in 2022, Starshield is a SpaceX business unit that develops military and intelligence satellite systems for the US department of defence.
While Musk has said the two systems are separate, in many cases they share the same underlying satellite technology and the distinction is not always clear-cut. Starshield's secure services use enhanced encryption and dedicated terminals, but rely on the vast Starlink constellation as their backbone.
Musk, who was Trump’s efficiency tsar early into the president’s second term, pushed back on criticism of his Starlink service on Wednesday, writing on social media: “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX.”
Any limits on the speed or usage of Starshield would be decided by the US military or the president, he added.
Russia's latest strikes show Moscow not ready for peace, French foreign ministry says
Thursday 15 October 2026 13:57 , James ReynoldsRussia's latest strikes on Ukraine make it very clear Moscow is not ready to take steps towards peace, France's foreign ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said on Thursday.
"Russia is clearly not prepared to take a step toward peace, as evidenced by the strikes in recent days that have killed more than 150 civilians since the beginning of last week," he told reporters.
What is Starlink and why is it so important for Ukraine?
Thursday 15 October 2026 13:52 , James ReynoldsUkrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the United States of withdrawing vital intelligence and weakening the ‘Starlink’ communications service at a crucial time in the Russian invasion, amid a burgeoning row with US president Donald Trump over strikes on Russian oil facilities.
Elon Musk’s Starshield - the military version of Starlink - has provided a lifeline to Ukraine in helping to defend against incoming attacks, as well as striking Russian targets. But Ukrainian officials on Wednesday began reporting trouble with terminals moving at speed.
The reasons for the difficulties were not immediately clear but followed another souring of relations between Trump and Ukraine, after he announced a deal to waive sanctions on Russian diesel and called for Zelensky to be replaced.
Explained in full:
What is Starlink and why is it so important for Ukraine?
Nato's chief Rutte meets with Bulgarian, Romanian leaders to discuss security in Black Sea
Thursday 15 October 2026 13:44 , James ReynoldsNato Secretary General Mark Rutte met on Thursday with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev and Romanian President Nicusor Dan to discuss security in the Black Sea and the latest attacks on commercial shipping, he said in a post on X.
"Nato will continue to work closely with our Allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed," Rutte said.
Top story: US 'floats unfreezing some Russian assets' to restart Ukraine peace talks
Thursday 15 October 2026 13:30 , James ReynoldsThe US has proposed that European countries unfreeze some Russian sovereign assets immobilised after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and transfer them to a vehicle overseen by Washington in an attempt to revive peace talks, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the matter.
European delegates rebuffed the plan, which was pitched by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US president Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the report said.
It comes after the US lifted sanctions on Russia in return for Moscow releasing some diesel to the US and global markets, according to Donald Trump.
US and Ukrainian officials had told the Kyiv Independent ahead of the deal that Russia had demanded sanctions relief as part of its talks around a then-anticipated energy ceasefire.
Trump announced an energy ceasefire had been agreed after making the diesel deal with Russia, but neither side confirmed it and strikes have continued.
Full story: Zelenskyy accuses Putin of disrespecting Trump with strikes on Ukraine
Thursday 15 October 2026 13:00 , James ReynoldsVolodymyr Zelensky said that a massive Russian air attack on power plants in Ukraine showed Moscow’s contempt for Donald Trump’s energy ceasefire, as Europe threw its weight behind Kyiv.
Writing on social media on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president condemned a Russian ballistic missile strike on “the very infrastructure covered by the ceasefire announced by the American president”.
“The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale,” he added. “Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect towards the United States. Russia does not consider the American president’s statements strong.”
In full:
Zelenskyy accuses Putin of disrespecting Trump with renewed strikes on Ukraine
Britain pledges £17 million to repair Chernobyl power plant hit by Russian drone strike
Thursday 15 October 2026 12:30 , Namita SinghBritain is to finance essential repairs at the Chernobyl nuclear site following a Russian drone strike, as Andy Burnham sought to reinforce support for Ukraine during "dark and difficult days" for the nation.
The UK will contribute £17 million towards restoring the plant's protective shelter and ventilation systems damaged in an attack last year, following concerns that corrosion could pose long-term safety and environmental hazards.
Britain pledges £17m to repair Chernobyl power plant hit by Russian drone strike
Watch: Piers Morgan issues direct television address to Trump after Zelensky's bombshell interview
Thursday 15 October 2026 12:00 , James ReynoldsRussia strikes Ukraine's Izmail port and cargo vessels
Thursday 15 October 2026 11:30 , Namita SinghRussia has struck Izmail port in Ukraine's Black Sea Odesa region and has also hit two cargo vessels en route to Odesa, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram, claiming they were being used for military purposes.
