President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine has received some Patriot interceptor missiles after weeks of complaints that Western allies had failed to honour delivery commitments, though he declined to say how many or from whom.
“We thank our partners for all this support,” Zelensky posted on Telegram on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference with Estonian President Alar Karis, he said Ukraine needed more of the interceptor missiles.
Zelensky has for weeks criticized Western allies for failing to honour delivery pledges, saying they preferred to keep the weapons for themselves. On Sunday, Zelensky said Ukraine urgently needed 300 Patriot missiles as part of a winter package, while the country’s air force had put its requirement at 360.
He told Ukrainian media at a weekend meeting that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had committed to delivering a total of 600 missiles between 2027 and 2028.
The Patriot air-defence system is considered particularly effective against Russia’s fast ballistic missiles, and Moscow has recently exploited gaps in Ukraine’s defences to carry out a particularly high number of missile strikes.
Zelensky said at the weekend that Russia was capable of producing up to 1,300 ballistic missiles a year. “At present they have between 600 and 630,” he said. “We have a rough idea of the number they want to reach between now and the end of winter. At a rough estimate, they could produce 100 ballistic missiles a month.”
