“KYIV, Ukraine -- 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 early 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 Israel and 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 military is the one facing the immediate consequences.
Moscow is escalating its campaign of missile and drone strikes against military targets in Ukrainian cities. Ukraine is able to stop most Russian long-range drones, but its lack of an antimissile shield is leading to a growing military 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 building where five people were killed. Across town, a missile landed in the courtyard of another building and killed six more people, emergency services said.
In the surrounding region, the attack killed three more people, while also injuring 15 more and damaging buildings after Russia struck a weapon factory and a military 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. 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."
The Patriot missile-defense system has proven the only way for Ukraine to reliably stop ballistic missiles. The sheer speed of ballistic missiles, which travel at several miles per second in their descent, make them hard to stop.
Ukraine has intercepted around 90% of Russia's long-range drones this year, as well as 80% of the 722 cruise missiles fired at it, according to official data analyzed by the Centre for Information Resilience, a U.K.-based open-source investigations organization.
But 70% of the 522 ballistic missiles fired by Russia got through Ukraine's defenses. That ratio is set to worsen as Ukraine's inventory of Patriot interceptors runs dry.
"We need the means to shoot down ballistic missiles. We have enough systems; what we need is a steady supply of missiles," said Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat. "Clearly, the Russians are exploiting the fact that there is a serious shortage."
Ukraine's defense minister said last week he has asked nearly 40 partner countries for a quick transfer of stockpiled Patriot missiles, in return promising them new deliveries that Ukraine expects to receive from next year.
Ukraine is working on its own anti-ballistic missile defenses, and is trying to secure licenses from the U.S. to produce Patriot interceptors inside the country. However, both projects are seen as unlikely to close Kyiv's missile-defense gap soon.
Already-limited supplies of Patriot interceptors were further strained this year after the U.S. and Gulf states consumed dozens of the interceptors almost daily to defend against Iranian ballistic missiles.” [1]
1. World News: Ukraine's Missile Shortage Imperils Kyiv --- Moscow's barrages against the capital exploit global lack of Patriot interceptors. Malenko, Anastasiia; MacDonald, Alistair. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 07 July 2026: A5.
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