Ukraine has run out of missiles for its US-made Patriot air defense systems, leaving the country more vulnerable to Russian ballistic missile attacks. The development was described by a person familiar with the situation.

It comes amid an increasingly bitter public dispute between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. In recent days, the White House reached a heavily criticized deal to import Russian diesel and increased pressure on Kyiv to stop strikes against Russia’s oil infrastructure.

Zelensky said he felt betrayed by Trump’s deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He later announced that Ukraine would continue attacking Russian refineries.

For months, Zelensky has warned that Ukraine is running out of the US-made Patriot interceptor missiles. They are among the few defensive weapons capable of shooting down a ballistic missile.

The interceptors are expensive and in short supply worldwide. Other countries have used up their own stockpiles or are trying to strengthen their air defenses amid the war in Iran.

The person familiar with the situation said that during the latest Russian strike, “almost all the ballistic missiles were not intercepted due to a lack of interceptor missiles.”

During the overnight attack into Wednesday, Russian ballistic missiles struck three power plants in Kyiv and targeted energy infrastructure in Kharkiv. Four people were killed and 25 injured in Kyiv that day.

The latest shortage is not believed to be the first time Ukraine has completely run out of Patriot interceptors. Zelensky has repeatedly spoken publicly about the continuing difficulty of securing additional stocks.

In mid-August, Ukrainian officials revealed that the country had nearly exhausted its interceptors after access was provided to a Patriot system on Ukrainian territory. Zelensky said at the time that he spent his days making “millions” of phone calls with allies to arrange more systems. He said Ukraine had only one-tenth of the missiles it urgently needed.

A month later, the Ukrainian president adopted a more hopeful tone, saying the country would receive a US license to manufacture Patriot missiles. Trump ultimately declined to say whether he supported the plan, and no license was granted.

Tensions between the two presidents grew as Washington demanded that Kyiv halt strikes on Russian energy facilities while Moscow continued attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

In an interview, Zelensky said he could agree to stop attacks on Russia’s energy sector only if Ukraine received at least more Patriot interceptors. He added that when he asked for additional air defenses, the American response was to weaken Starlink service.

In a public statement on Wednesday, Zelensky again appealed for deliveries. “The American president has all the effective and necessary tools to bring peace closer through strength, justice and pressure on the aggressor. We ask for additional packages of Patriot missile interceptors for Ukraine,” he said.

Ahead of the US midterm elections, Trump has increasingly linked rising global diesel prices to the war between Ukraine and Russia, although the war in Iran has played a more significant role in the fuel-price surge.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration warned Ukraine and European allies that the United States could suspend European purchases of American weapons and intelligence sharing for Ukraine if Kyiv did not stop deep strikes against Russian energy facilities. The warnings were sent over the weekend by the State Department and the Pentagon to officials in Ukraine and Europe, including through direct communications between the US military and Ukrainian commanders.

Trump later insisted that the United States had not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

If the administration suspended European weapons purchases through PURL, the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List mechanism, that could threaten future deliveries of the Patriot interceptors used against ballistic missiles.

Source: cnn.com