Ukraine says missile interceptor deliveries have fallen to third of 2025 level

KYIV: Allies have supplied just a third of the air defence ​missiles to Ukraine in ​2026 compared with 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday, ​as Russia escalates strikes on the capital of Kyiv and its southern port hub.

Ukraine has been short on U.S.-made Patriot interceptors capable of downing Russian ballistic missiles since ‌the start ⁠of the ⁠war. But in recent weeks, the acute shortage came into focus, with Moscow pummelling Kyiv, on average, every three days in July alone.

"And this is not just a summer ​phenomenon - it applies to every period of the first half of 2026," Zelenskiy added on the Telegram app.


In what has become a pattern in ​recent weeks, Ukrainian air defences failed to intercept ⁠a single ‌one of the 24 ballistic missiles and four Zircon ​cruise missiles ​during Wednesday's attack, the air force said.

Serhii Beskrestnov, an ⁠adviser to Ukraine's president on the development of defence ​technology, estimates that Russia is capable of launching 100 ​ballistic missiles every month to attack logistic hubs, industrial facilities, food and building warehouses.

"The war of attrition has entered its next phase," he said on the Telegram app.

In addition to its own capabilities, Russia again turned to the deployment of North Korean missiles. Last week, Moscow's troops ‌fired the first two North Korean missiles since last August, Ukraine said.

A North Korean missile unit has begun deploying to ​western Russia ​and could be equipped ⁠with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers, according to Ukraine's military intelligence.

With interceptor stocks limited across the globe and political volatility affecting supplies, one possible ​way for Ukraine to counteract is to target Russian missile launchers, some military analysts say.

Ukraine's current capabilities do not permit such strikes. Kyiv is also pressing allies to develop a pan-European anti-ballistic system and has sought a licence from the U.S. to produce Patriot missiles itself.