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“Certain Systems Are Left Empty”: Ukrainian Official Warns of Critical Air Defense Missile Gaps
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Ukraine is facing a shortage of missiles for its air defense systems, leaving some complexes temporarily without ammunition while awaiting new Russian attacks. This was stated by Yurii Ihnat, head of the Communications Department of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine on January 2.
According to Ihnat, the issue of missile shortages has been raised repeatedly at the highest level, with the Ukrainian president repeatedly drawing partners’ attention to the critical situation.
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“We have stated this more than once, and the President of Ukraine has repeatedly drawn partners’ attention to the fact that sometimes certain systems are left empty, while the next attack still has to be repelled with something. And indeed, ahead of one such attack, we were provided with assets just a day before… And the Defense Forces repelled that massive strike quite successfully thanks to missiles for F-16s, for NASAMS, for IRIS-T, for Patriot,” Ihnat said.
He emphasized that there have been moments when the Air Force experienced a serious shortage of these missiles. During one Russian attack, for example, a NASAMS system reportedly had only two missiles available instead of six.
Ihnat also pointed to the scale and intensity of Russian strikes as a major challenge for air defense. Russia increasingly launches large numbers of missiles and drones simultaneously against a single city or region.
“This is what distinguishes these attacks from those in previous years—the enemy attacks one city or region simultaneously, intensively, and with a large number of assets. Sometimes our surface-to-air missile systems, such as NASAMS or IRIS-T, simply do not have time to reload during such powerful attacks,” he explained.
The missile shortage affecting Ukraine’s air defense has at times left certain systems unable to engage incoming threats, though fresh ammunition has now been delivered. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation improved earlier, speaking at a press conference following talks with Czech President Petr Pavel.
Zelenskyy noted that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has received “a very large number” of different air defense systems from its partners, all of which require a steady flow of missiles to remain operational. He stressed that maintaining supplies is a constant challenge across the entire air defense network.
The president also underlined that the problem is not confined to Patriot systems alone, adding that such systems “will never be enough” given the scale and intensity of Russia’s missile and drone attacks.
Earlier, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy secured an understanding with the United States on the provision of PAC-3 missiles for Ukraine’s Patriot air defense systems.
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