Ukraine has successfully intercepted 90 percent of the killer drones and nearly 80 percent of the cruise missiles that Russia has targeted at the country over the past six months, according to Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who spoke at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Berlin on Wednesday. He reported that from last November to March this year, Russia launched 462 ballistic missiles, close to 600 cruise missiles, and 27,000 Shahed-type drones against Ukraine.
Despite this, Kyiv faces a shortage of anti-ballistic defenses, heavily depending on Western supplies. There is a severe lack of PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptor missiles, a shortage that has worsened since the U.S. and Israel initiated their conflict with Iran in late February.
Kyiv has begun to explore alternatives to the PAC missiles and continues to urge partners to honor their obligations to Ukraine.
“There are many political commitments from partners that have already been voiced but not yet implemented, including in the ‘Ramstein’ format and on a bilateral basis,” Zelenskyy said on Thursday. “I have instructed the commander of the air force to contact those partners who previously gave promises regarding missiles for ‘Patriots’ and other systems.”
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