ZELENSKYY: U.S. WILL SUPPLY UKRAINE WITH PATRIOT MISSILES EVERY MONTH — BUT IT IS STILL NOT ENOUGH
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States will provide Ukraine with Patriot interceptor missiles on a monthly basis, giving Kyiv a more predictable flow of ammunition for one of the few air-defense systems capable of reliably engaging Russian ballistic missiles.
But Zelenskyy stressed that the quantities remain insufficient. He said additional interceptors are available in Germany and Poland, while the Netherlands and Nordic countries are also helping Ukraine secure missiles for its air-defense network.
The urgency could hardly be clearer after last night.
Russia launched six ballistic missiles toward Kyiv and the surrounding region — Ukraine intercepted none of them. The Air Force reported 0/6 ballistic missiles destroyed, while Ukrainian defenses managed to neutralize 135 of 151 Russian drones.
That contrast tells the story. Ukraine has developed an increasingly capable layered defense against Russia’s enormous drone attacks, but ballistic missiles remain a completely different threat. Systems capable of intercepting them are scarce, and even a functioning Patriot battery becomes far less useful when there are not enough interceptor missiles available to fire
These shortages are no longer an abstract discussion about weapons inventories. Russian ballistic missiles are striking cities, warehouses, railways, energy infrastructure and other facilities Ukrainians depend on every day.
A guaranteed monthly American supply is an important improvement. But after a night in which six ballistic missiles came in and not one could be intercepted, Zelenskyy’s message is difficult to misunderstand: Ukraine needs considerably more, and it needs them now.