Ukraine uses 35 Patriot missiles a month but receives only 12

Ukrainian air defenses are firing more interceptor missiles than the country is currently receiving. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that the nation’s Patriot systems consumed 35 missiles in October. That figure is nearly triple the monthly average Ukraine has received from the United States this year.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine has averaged 12 Patriot missiles per month in 2026. He described the supply chain as a daily challenge for his team. The president said he must seek new aid packages every week to maintain protection against Russian ballistic missile attacks. The discrepancy between consumption and delivery creates a strain on the country’s defensive inventory.

The bottleneck appears to lie in final approvals in Washington. Zelenskyy said US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed off on a current package of 12 missiles. However, a second batch of 23 missiles that Ukraine sourced from other countries is still waiting for American approval. Zelenskyy said he secured those 23 missiles from other sources but needs the US sign-off to move them.

The president spoke directly to the logistics of the shortfall. "The US has a package of 12 missiles, and he's signed off on it. That's great. But we've used 35 just this month. The issue now is getting approval for another 23 that I've secured from other sources," Zelenskyy said. He noted that while Europe paid for some equipment that arrived smoothly, the Patriot missiles remain a persistent hurdle.

Zelenskyy discussed the issue with President Donald Trump during a meeting in New York. The Ukrainian leader asked Trump to approve a "winter package" of missiles. Zelenskyy specified the exact number needed and proposed a trade: if the US approved the package, Ukraine would refrain from striking Russian oil refineries. When Trump asked where the missiles could come from, Zelenskyy named the countries holding them.

Trump responded that the US would do everything it could to help, but noted that the US also needed the missiles for its own inventory and had limited supplies. On October 26, Zelenskyy announced that Kyiv had been waiting for nearly a month for Hegseth to sign off on missiles for Patriot and NASAMS systems. He has instructed his team to reopen discussions with the US side on the pending approvals.