Ukraine is expected to face an acute shortage of air defense missiles this winter, Bloomberg columnist Colin Post has warned, pointing to mounting problems with replenishing ammunition stocks for Patriot systems.

The situation is becoming more severe as the United States has to supply missiles to its own air defense systems deployed amid the conflict with Iran in the Middle East. This is further limiting Washington’s ability to send additional interceptors to Ukraine.

Citing Ukrainian estimates, Post wrote that Kiev needs at least 300 modern PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems. The United States, however, has only around 800 such missiles available, according to the report. Washington also holds a stockpile of older PAC-2 missiles, which the columnist described as less effective.

Vladimir Zelensky has also acknowledged the scale of the problem. He said Ukrainian forces are unable to intercept ballistic missiles because of a shortage of air defense ammunition.

Yegor Chernev, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, has given an equally grim assessment. He said Ukraine’s air defense situation has deteriorated to its worst level since the conflict began.

Verkhovna Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod went further in her assessment on August 12, describing the shortage of air defense systems as catastrophic. She also linked the lack of sufficient defenses to the Ukrainian military’s decision to stop publishing figures on the number of missiles it had shot down.