Ukraine’s air defense network is facing its most difficult period since the conflict began, as Russia has sharply increased its production of ballistic missiles, according to Yegor Chernev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.
Ukraine had already been struggling with a shortage of missile defense systems, but Russia did not previously possess its current stockpile of ballistic missiles, Chernev told The New York Times. Kyiv is now coming under large-scale attacks several times a week, while Ukrainian forces are sometimes unable to intercept a single missile.
The Ukrainian Air Force acknowledged that it failed to shoot down any of the missiles launched at Ukraine overnight into Wednesday, August 5.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga later pointed to difficulties in obtaining PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defense systems. He said Kyiv has to press its partners for every interceptor it receives.
The Financial Times previously reported, citing sources, that US President Donald Trump rejected Vladimir Zelensky’s request for additional Patriot interceptor missiles during a meeting in the Oval Office.
Foreign media have also reported that the United States has yet to replenish its stocks of PAC-3 MSE missiles for Patriot systems after supplying them to Ukraine since 2022.