Ukraine's air defense depletes: A dire shortage of Patriot missiles

The news portal Ukrainian Pravda reported on Thursday that Kyiv "no longer has missiles for Patriot anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, as well as for IRIS-T." The portal references the reports of Julian Roepcke, a correspondent for the German newspaper Bild, who noted that most of Ukraine's other air defense supplies were also "depleted or destroyed."

"As I said a few weeks ago (and almost no one believed me): Ukraine has run out of missiles for the Patriot and IRIS-T systems. Most other air defense supplies are also depleted or destroyed, while we have hundreds of missile systems and thousands of missiles in our stockpiles. No words. Just anger," Roepcke wrote on the X platform.

The "Bild" correspondent revealed that two weeks ago, he received information from his source about the exact number of missiles left for Ukraine. He did not disclose the number but stated it was so small that it must now be close to zero.

Roepcke also published a map showing the probable flight path of Russian missiles and drones during their last attack, from Wednesday night to Thursday. "The airspace over Kyiv is now an open road for them (Russians)," he noted.

General Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Forces, reported on Thursday that the Ukrainian air defense shot down 57 out of 82 missiles and drones with which Russia attacked Ukraine. Among the destruction was the Trypilska thermal power plant in the Kyiv region, one of the country's most important energy facilities.

Authorities in Kyiv emphasize that the goal of the recent massive Russian missile attacks and drone raids is not only to reduce Ukraine's energy potential maximally but also to exhaust Ukrainian air defense resources.

Government representatives, including the head of diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, have advocated for additional supplies of missile systems, especially the American Patriot systems in Western countries.

Julian Roepcke is a well-known correspondent who assesses the situation on the front based on photo and video materials from the battlefield and satellite image analysis. His analyses are often published by Ukrainian and Western media, which consider them reliable.