Kyiv, Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to help Ukraine secure more air defence systems and interceptors as Russia threatens new strikes. Zelenskiy said ballistic missiles remain Moscow’s “last major advantage on the battlefield”.
Appeal for more air defence
In a letter to Trump and the U.S. Congress seen by Reuters, Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed help protecting its skies from Russian missiles. He said Ukraine was ready to buy the Patriot systems and interceptor missiles it requires.
Ukraine’s only means of shooting down Russian ballistic missiles is U.S.-made interceptors for the Patriot air defence system. Kyiv has lacked enough interceptors throughout the four years of war, and the Iran war has threatened to make supplies even scarcer.
Since Trump took office, Ukraine has been buying Patriot missiles through NATO’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List initiative, financed by European allies.
Deliveries and battlefield losses
“But the current pace of deliveries through the PURL program is no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face,” Zelenskiy said in the letter.
“For us – for a nation fighting for its survival – there is hardly anything more painful to see than Patriot batteries with no missiles loaded,” he added.
The letter was first reported by Ukrainian media outlet The Kyiv Independent.
Latest Russian attack
Russia fired 30 ballistic missiles at Ukraine in its latest large-scale strike on Sunday, and Ukraine’s air force said 11 were shot down.
Zelenskiy also said Moscow’s forces launched two nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic Oreshnik missiles in the same strike. He said one hit the Kyiv region and another reportedly fell in temporarily occupied territory in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
