Ukraine could run out of air defence missiles, Volodymyr Zelensky warns
- The situation is deteriorating after weeks of Russian strikes on the energy system, towns and cities
- Kyiv’s forces are also out of shells for counteroffensive actions and are using their limited ammunition for defensive purposes
The Ukrainian leader’s starkest warning to date of the deteriorating situation faced by his country’s air defences follows weeks of Russian strikes on the energy system, towns and cities using a broad arsenal of missiles and drones.
“If they keep hitting [Ukraine] every day the way they have for the last month, we might run out of missiles, and the partners know it,” he said in an interview that aired on Ukrainian television on Saturday.
Zelensky, who has been appealing to allies for weeks to rush in more air defences, said that Ukraine had enough stockpiles to cope for the moment, but that it was already having to make difficult choices about what to protect.
He singled out in particular the need for Patriot air defence systems and said Ukraine needed 25 of them.
The sophisticated US air defence system has been vital during Russian attacks with ballistic and hypersonic missiles which can hit targets within a matter of minutes. His remarks followed a fresh spate of attacks that Ukrainian officials said killed civilians.
Two Russian missile and drone strikes, one in the early hours of Saturday and a second in the afternoon, killed eight people and wounded at least 10 more people in northeastern Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.