Nearly five years into its fight for national survival, Ukraine has entered a moment of intense vulnerability, under growing pressure not only from Russia but also now from the United States.

A double blow came overnight Wednesday.

Ukraine said that its military, with no warning, had lost some critical access to a military version of Starlink, a pillar of its battlefield communications. Ukraine relies on the satellite internet network, known as Starshield, which is paid for by the Pentagon. That led Ukrainian officials and analysts to surmise that the restrictions had come from Washington, as President Donald Trump is locked in his latest feud with Ukraine’s leadership.

At the same time, Russia unleashed dozens of ballistic missiles in a broad attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure early Wednesday, cutting power to 600,000 people in the capital, Kyiv. It was a dark omen for a rapidly approaching winter in which Russia is gearing up to try to push Ukraine to the breaking point as Ukraine runs low on lifesaving air defenses.

It was unclear how long the Starshield restrictions would remain in place.

Ukraine’s energy system is at risk of collapse in the coming months as Russia pounds power plants and substations, trying to deprive Ukrainians of heat and water. Its economy is being pushed to the brink by Russian strikes on its ports, warehouses and steel factories. And its budget faces a multibillion-dollar gap this year and next that could leave its military severely underfunded.

The Starshield development was interpreted in Ukraine as part of a Trump administration pressure campaign to limit Ukraine’s ability to fight. Trump is pushing Ukraine to stop attacking oil refineries so Russia can pump more diesel onto global markets as high prices threaten the prospects of Trump’s Republican Party in the midterm elections.

“Clearly, this action cannot be a coincidence and is linked to the current political situation,” Serhiy Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian military expert who advises President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on weapons technologies, wrote on social media about the Starlink restrictions.

SpaceX, which operates Starlink and Starshield, and its CEO, Elon Musk, did not respond to requests for comment. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One-sided ‘energy ceasefire’

Even as Russia pounds Ukraine day after day, leading to some of the highest civilian death tolls seen in years of war, Ukraine says it is abiding by Trump’s demand not to strike Russian oil refineries. Its campaign against refineries, which had led to fuel shortages across Russia, made Russians feel the war as never before.

Ukraine has said it is unfair that Russia is still attacking Ukraine’s power plants and substations. Zelenskyy has asserted that the strikes violate Trump’s self-declared “energy ceasefire” in Ukraine. The Trump administration views the ceasefire as covering only strikes on oil refineries, even though Ukraine has none that are operational.

Ukraine has set aside its most potent tool against Russia in part because it is worried that Trump could follow through on an apparent threat to stop providing intelligence that Ukraine needs to warn its people of incoming Russian strikes.

connection lost at 100 mph

The Starshield limitations, if they continue, could hobble Ukraine’s military operations. Starshield terminals are used for nearly everything the Ukrainian army deploys on the battlefield: the cars that carry troops and matériel, the drones that ferry food and water to soldiers at the front, and the attack drones that fly long distances to hit Russian positions.

The Ukrainian military uses thousands of terminals connected to Starshield, a version of the Starlink network that is harder to hack or jam. Musk said earlier this year that Starshield was “operated by the U.S. government.”

Officials from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that, without warning, SpaceX had restricted the use of Starshield for devices traveling faster than 100 mph. When the device exceeded this speed, the terminals lost connection. The officials said the Defense Ministry was in touch with the U.S. government, SpaceX and NATO partners to address the issue.

Ukrainian soldiers said missions had been disrupted as a result. Oleksandr, an officer in the 8th Air Assault Corps, said the restrictions had mainly affected heavy bomber and fixed-wing drones targeting Russian logistical routes and positions in occupied territory. He is identified by only his first name, in keeping with Ukrainian military rules.

Oleksandr said that if the restrictions remained in effect, Russia would be able to reopen crucial supply routes in a matter of days, and could better protect expensive equipment, including ships, from Ukrainian attacks.

Starshield also provides connections to the interceptor drones that Ukraine uses to shoot down the Russian attack drones known as Shaheds, especially the fast-flying jet-powered models that Russia is now launching toward Ukraine en masse, Beskrestnov said.