Ukraine faces new crisis as Russian ballistic missiles go unchecked

Ukraine is facing a new crisis as Russian ballistic missile strikes go unchallenged, the Financial Times reported Saturday (local time).

Citing Ukrainian officials, the FT said Russia launched ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv on Aug. 5 and Aug. 8, and Ukraine failed to intercept a single one.

Ukraine had run through the small supply of Patriot interceptor missiles the United States provided over the preceding weeks.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia's Aug. 5 attack involved 24 ballistic missiles, four anti-ship missiles and 115 drones. While 98 drones were shot down, not one missile was intercepted.

On Aug. 8, six Russian ballistic missiles struck targets inside Kyiv, killing three people.

Ukraine had improved its battlefield position earlier this summer by launching long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities, triggering the worst fuel crisis Russia has faced since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

That momentum is now at risk, however, as the United States grows wary of escalation and allies that had been supplying interceptor missiles to Ukraine have run down their own stocks.

US President Donald Trump declined to agree to provide additional Patriot air-defense interceptors — missiles Ukraine will need over the coming months — when he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in late July, the FT reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.

With Russia expected to launch another large-scale missile and drone campaign against Ukraine's power, gas and water infrastructure this winter, Ukraine estimates it will need at least 300 PAC-3 interceptor missiles for its Patriot systems to withstand the assault.

After the Russian missile strikes on Kyiv, Zelensky took to social media platform X to criticize delays in delivering additional air-defense systems, saying "our people clearly need more protection."

"Ballistic missile defense capabilities, interceptors for Patriot, SAMP/T, NASAMS and Hawk, and our F-16s — all of this is useful and helps save lives when it is here in Ukraine, not sitting in a warehouse thousands of kilometers away from Russian strikes," he said.