Ukraine battles air defence shortage as Pentagon slows shipments
Moscow has stepped up attacks during Trump’s attempts to broker a peace deal, heaping pressure on Kyiv’s stocks
Ukraine is at risk of shortages of air defence weapons after a US defence department review of military aid resulted in slower deliveries just as Moscow intensifies air attacks, according to western and Ukrainian officials.
Pressure on supplies has become more acute after months of irregular and smaller than expected shipments since a Pentagon directive in June. Officials and analysts warned that if Moscow keeps escalating or just sustains its higher tempo of missile and drone attacks, Ukrainian air defence units will face shortfalls.
“It’s a question of time for when munitions run out,” said a person familiar with US deliveries of air defence materiel to Ukraine.
The slowdown has been particularly worrying because other missiles procured directly from manufacturers under a separate programme, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, are produced in batches, leaving gaps between deliveries.
EU nations have also recently agreed to send air defence systems and munitions from their stocks and buy others from the US to enable them to supply Ukraine, but these deliveries have only begun arriving in part.
Russian forces on Sunday launched the largest mass aerial attack on Ukraine since their full-scale invasion, firing 805 Shahed attack drones and decoy drones and 13 cruise and ballistic missiles, killing four people.
The waves of missile and drone assaults have come while Russian troops were advancing on the ground towards strategically important cities in eastern Ukraine.
While Ukraine has long warned about supplies for its air defences, including during Joe Biden’s administration, Moscow’s intensifying attacks have made the worries more acute. The US slowdown in arms deliveries followed a memo in early June written by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s top policy official, for defence secretary Pete Hegseth.
Colby, who has said he wants to refocus the US military on countering the growing threat posed by a rising China, argued in the memo that Ukraine’s requests for American weapons could further stretch depleted Pentagon stockpiles.
A White House official said: “Reporting that we are ‘depriving Kyiv of vital air defence munitions’ is demonstrably false, and the Department of War is working very deliberately to support Ukraine’s requirements, including with respect to air defences.”
The official added President Donald Trump wanted to “stop the killing” and had directed the US to “sell weapons to Nato allies that can backfill what European countries are sending to Ukraine”.
“However, European countries must step up as well, including by ending purchases of Russian oil and placing economic pressure on countries that finance the war.”
Following a readiness review of 10 important systems, the Pentagon first paused and then slowed down shipments to Ukraine of Pac-3 interceptors for Patriot air defence systems; dozens of Stinger man-portable air defence systems; precision-guided artillery shells; more than 100 Hellfire missiles and Aim missiles launched by Ukraine’s Nasams air defence systems and F-16 fighter jets, said senior US and Ukrainian officials.
Kyiv’s forces have since the summer expended significant munitions trying to defend against intense aerial barrages targeting military and civilian infrastructure, said Ukrainian officials.
As Russia expands air strikes on energy facilities ahead of the colder autumn and winter months to try to weaken Ukraine and press its advantage on the battlefield, Kyiv expects greater defensive challenges.
Russia’s drone attacks have increased sharply this year, with an average of more than 5,200 drone launches a month this summer — a trend that is likely to continue, Ukrainian officials and analysts warn.
The number of Russian missiles has decreased slightly this year but hundreds are still launched each month, according to Ukrainian Air Force data.
Each heavy Russian barrage forces Ukraine to fire off precious interceptors and other munitions at a pace faster than American replacements can arrive.
Russian attacks have escalated since President Vladimir Putin met Trump in Alaska last month. This included the biggest drone and missile attack on Kyiv and other cities on Sunday when Ukraine’s cabinet building was struck for the first time during the war.
Katarína Mathernová, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, said after touring the damage that an Iskander ballistic missile had struck the building.
“I saw it with my own eyes: Putin knows exactly what he is doing,” she said on Monday. The Iskander ballistic missile was aimed “at the heart of Ukraine’s government”, she added.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week said he had instructed his secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, to co-ordinate Ukraine’s officials, regional administrations and energy companies on procuring additional short and medium-range air defence systems.
The priority is intercepting Russia’s Iran-designed Shahed attack drones, he said. Zelenskyy said he had met Ukrainian air force officials to discuss “accelerating the supply of additional air defence systems”.
Some relief is on the way. European allies of Ukraine have begun buying US weapons for the country after a deal struck with Trump during a summit at the White House in August to allow for indirect sales to Kyiv, which Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, called a “breakthrough point”.
The effort, led by Nato countries, allows participating nations to purchase military equipment and munitions from US stockpiles for Kyiv.
European partners bought $2bn worth in August, including for air defences, Zelenskyy said last Wednesday. Ukraine’s goal is to secure at least $1bn each month, he added.