Russia’s latest missile attack on the Ukrainian capital, which killed at least 12 people and wounded close to 50, has exposed a grim reality: Ukraine has virtually run out of Patriot interceptors that stop ballistic missiles.
Ukraine was unable to intercept any of the 23 Russian ballistic missiles that crashed into the Kyiv area in the early hours of Monday. Russia’s nearly unimpeded strikes are the consequence of a global dearth of interceptors for the U.S.-made Patriot antimissile system, a shortage compounded by this year’s U.S.-led war with Iran.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to ask Western countries to send more of their own scarce supply of interceptors when he attends the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Ankara this week.
Zelensky called on the U.S. to give higher priority to Ukraine’s urgent missile-defense needs. “Missiles for Patriots are a priority, and, of course, we understand that the political will of the United States would certainly be enough to make up for the Patriot shortage, but so far, there is not enough of that support,” he said on Sunday evening, hours before Russia’s latest barrage.
However, Ukraine is one of around 20 countries that are waiting in line for Patriot interceptors, for which stockpiles are low and which can take more than two years to manufacture. But Ukrainian civilians are the ones facing the immediate consequences.
Russia still on charge
As the Russian army struggles to advance on the battlefield, Moscow is escalating its campaign of missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities. Ukraine is able to stop most Russian long-range drones, but its lack of an antimissile shield is leading to a growing civilian death toll.
Only on Thursday, Russia pounded Kyiv in one of the largest attacks of the war, killing 31 people and injuring over 100 more.
On Monday morning, plumes of smoke towered over Kyiv as emergency services sifted through the rubble of a residential building where five people were killed. Across town, a missile landed in the courtyard of another apartment block and killed six more people, emergency services said.
In the surrounding region, the attack killed three more people, injuring 15 more and damaging homes after Russia struck a factory and a warehouse. Video footage on social media showed large secondary explosions, suggesting stored ammunition was detonated. Ukraine didn’t confirm Russia’s claim that the targets were military facilities.
Zelensky said there were enough interceptors for Patriot batteries in other countries’ stockpiles, but that governments were reluctant to share them.
“Any delay with missiles for our air defense—missiles for Patriots—means the loss of lives, and it encourages Russia to continue the war. The world has the necessary quantity and quality of air defense,” he said. “Missiles for Patriots are needed not in warehouses right now, but in Patriot units in Ukraine.”