President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has quantified Ukraine's air-defence shortfall with new specificity, saying in a CNN interview that just 5% of the US Patriot interceptor stockpile would sustain the country through winter, while 10% would neutralise all incoming Russian ballistic missiles. The appeal sharpens his case after earlier warnings that allied deliveries had slumped.
Kyiv now possesses only about 40% of the interceptors it held in 2025, Zelenskyy said, while Russia has doubled its monthly ballistic-missile output. The gap has produced tangible failures: during an overnight strike on 5 August, Ukraine intercepted none of 28 ballistic missiles fired at Kyiv. Russia has been striking the capital roughly once a week in recent weeks.
Ukraine has reported acute Patriot shortages since the US-Israel conflict with Iran began in February, diverting American production. The Ukrainian air force said it would stop publishing detailed data on Russian ballistic-missile attacks.