President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Ukraine is receiving an average of just 12 missiles per month for its Patriot air defence systems in 2026. The President made the statement during a meeting with journalists.
"The PURL programme covers many different things: 20mm ammunition for F-16s, HIMARS, as well as Patriots and AIM missiles. We buy a great deal from the United States. Europe paid, everything arrived, and everything was fine. But in some cases, particularly with Patriots, it is a major challenge. Twelve missiles per month, on average – that is what we are receiving in 2026," Zelensky said.
The President noted that securing interceptor missiles is something he works on every day.
"And when there is a positive decision from one country or another, and they give me five, ten, twenty or even two missiles, I am extremely grateful. These are the circumstances I live in today, where constantly, every week, we have to put together new packages, find new missiles and secure additional protection. We need this every day to save our people's lives from Russian ballistic missiles. We need approval from the United States. That is all," the President said.
Commenting on problems with the supply of interceptor missiles from the United States and other countries this month, Zelensky explained:
"So, there are certain documents on Secretary Hegseth's desk that he has signed, and perhaps he thinks he has signed everything, but that is not the case. There is a package from the United States containing 12 missiles, and he signed it. Excellent. But I have used 35 this month. And the question concerns the other 23, which I managed to find through other channels. When we spoke with President Trump in New York, I asked him: 'Give me a winter package.' I told him: 'I need this package. Please approve it now. I specified the number of missiles and said that if you provide them, we will not strike any oil refineries. And he asked me where they could be obtained. I told him which countries had them. He replied that they would make every effort, but that they also needed missiles themselves because they did not have very many."
