Zelensky: 10% of America's Patriots would be enough to destroy all Russian missiles

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that just 10% of the total number of American Patriot missiles would be enough to shoot down every Russian ballistic missile attacking Ukraine. According to him, Kyiv currently has only about one percent of the volume it actually needs.

"If they sold us five percent, we would get through the winter and save lives. If they can sell us 10 percent, we would destroy all Russian ballistic missiles. Right now I have one percent," the Ukrainian leader said, speaking about efforts to secure American Patriot systems.

Stockpiles dwindling, attacks intensifying

Zelensky said Ukraine's stocks of interceptor missiles are shrinking, while Russia's are doing the opposite. "This year we have two and a half times fewer interceptor missiles than we had in 2025," he said, adding that Russia is now producing twice as many ballistic missiles per month as before.

The president said he calls various people every single day trying to secure as many interceptor missiles for Ukraine as possible. "This is what I live for every day. Going from one percent to five. Months of work and a million phone calls… I'm trying to trade something for missiles… I'm also doing some things I can't even talk about. That doesn't mean it's illegal. But I can't discuss it," Zelensky said cryptically.

Shortage fuelled by the Iran-US war

The shortage of Patriot missiles has worsened because of the US war with Iran: American forces and Gulf states used dozens of such interceptors to fend off Iranian missile and drone attacks. This creates a serious problem for Ukraine, which is facing massive Russian aerial bombardments.

US President Donald Trump previously said at the NATO summit in Ankara that he might allow Ukraine to obtain a license to produce these interceptor systems domestically. A few days later, however, he said he was no longer sure about that intention. According to CNN, Patriot manufacturers have in the meantime sent representatives to Kyiv to discuss the possibility, but no results have emerged yet.

According to The Atlantic, American manufacturers are in no rush to grant Ukraine a license — partly out of concern that Kyiv could improve on the missiles and produce them faster and cheaper than factories in the US.

"I hope I'll manage to get it [approval for production — ed.]," Zelensky said on the matter. "Right now I don't have that five percent, and I don't have that approval either. This is a huge challenge for me, one of the biggest I've faced since the start of this war," the Ukrainian president admitted.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz