Ukraine is facing an increasingly acute shortage of U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles for its air defense systems as Russian forces step up ballistic strikes, The New York Times has reported.

According to the newspaper, Russia has intensified its attacks in recent weeks, taking advantage of Kyiv’s dwindling stockpile of Patriot interceptor missiles. The article notes that Western deliveries are no longer keeping pace with Ukraine’s needs.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Colonel Yuri Ignat described the situation to NYT journalists by comparing it to a goalkeeper facing ten balls flying toward the net at once. Under such conditions, he said, it is impossible to stop every threat.

The report also points out that modern Patriot interceptors require a long production cycle. Their reserves have been depleted in part because of the conflict with Iran, which created urgent demand for missile and air defense systems among several Gulf states.

NYT noted that Ukrainian officials watched with frustration verging on alarm as footage showed Gulf countries, in some cases, using several Patriot missiles to shoot down a single cheap, slow-moving drone.

According to The New York Times, Lockheed Martin, which produces PAC-3 interceptors, manufactured only 620 such missiles in 2025. Over three years, Ukraine received more than 1,600 interceptors. The newspaper’s authors assess that this is still not enough as Russian missile attacks continue to intensify.

NYT concludes that Ukraine is trying to develop its own counterpart to Patriot, but so far it has been unable to create an air defense system with comparable effectiveness.