President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that his forces were unable to down any of the Russian ballistic missiles fired at Ukraine over the weekend. Ukraine is facing a shortage of Patriot interceptors.
“Our warriors performed well today in intercepting drones and cruise missiles, but unfortunately not Russian ballistic missiles,” Zelensky said on Monday. “The reason lies in the insufficient supply of interceptor missiles.”
Ukrainian forces reported Russia fired 23 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hundreds of drones at Kiev Sunday night. Ukrainian officials reported at least 13 people were killed and nearly 50 injured by the Russian munitions. Moscow has stepped up missile strikes on Kiev in response to an increasing number of Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Russia was “launching [ballistic missiles] at a scale not previously seen while exploiting the critical shortage of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems.”
The change in Russian tactics has put Ukraine in desperate need of Patriot interceptors. Fedorov called on NATO states to send their interceptors to Ukraine. “Interceptor missiles belong in Ukraine’s air defense system now — not sitting in stockpiles.” He added, “Our appeal to our partners is straightforward: transfer missiles from your stockpiles now, and replenish them later through our future deliveries.”
While Kiev is desperately in need, the country may be reluctant to send interceptors to Ukraine as the global stockpile of Patriots has been depleted in recent years. Under President Joe Biden, the US and its allies sent hundreds of Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
President Donald Trump’s wars against Iran have put further strain on Washington’s interceptor stockpile. It will take several years to replenish the interceptors used in the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday, Zelensky said missile defense was Ukraine’s greatest weakness. “There remains only one unknown,” he told the outlet. “Unfortunately, it is anti-ballistic defense. That is the major weakness [for Ukraine] in this equation.”
