The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy has reported that Russian strikes have caused significant damage to the country’s energy infrastructure, resulting in planned power outages across most regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Monday that he intends to order 25 Patriot air defense systems from the United States, as the country continues to face Russian air attacks that have caused continuous power disruptions ahead of winter.
Zelenskyy acknowledged that Patriot systems are expensive and that producing such a large quantity could take years. However, he emphasized that European countries could lend their Patriot systems to Ukraine now and receive replacements later.
“We want to order 25 Patriot systems from the United States. For us, this is a clear budget, and we understand the financial scope; however, some elements are missing in the agreement,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
“Our European colleagues can assist us here—they can lend us their systems now and then take back ours once they arrive from the manufacturers,” he added.
He also highlighted that last week Ukraine received additional Patriot systems from Germany. Berlin had declared three months ago that it would send two more systems, with guarantees that the U.S. would prioritize delivery of new systems to replenish its own stock. The German Ministry of Defense stated that Germany has supplied Ukraine with more Patriot systems than any other country and has also provided other defense systems, including IRIS-T and Skynex.
However, the exact number of Patriot systems currently in Ukraine is unknown. Air defense coverage remains thin across large areas, and the threat to heating and water security during the harsh winter is high.
“We have been discussing closing the skies since day one of this war. We understand this is a weakness. We also understand that Putin had a large number of missiles while we had very few air defense systems and only a small stock of Soviet-era missiles,” Zelenskyy said.
“These systems were not a sufficient shield at all. Nevertheless, we built the air defense we could and continue to develop it,” he added.
NATO is coordinating regular deliveries of large arms packages to Ukraine, while European allies and Canada are purchasing the majority of equipment from the United States. Unlike the Biden administration, the previous Trump administration did not provide weapons to Ukraine.
