Ukraine could have used Patriot missiles expended in Middle East for years, Air Force says

Speaking to RBC-Ukraine, Ihnat contrasted the reported scale of interceptor use in the Middle East with Ukraine's increasingly severe shortage of missiles for its Patriot air defense systems.

He said Ukrainian crews had developed tactics to use Patriot systems more efficiently, including moving launchers between positions and conducting ambushes against Russian aircraft.

Ihnat also pointed to differences in the number of interceptors fired at individual targets.

Ukrainian crews can sometimes use a single missile against one target, he said, while as many as eight interceptors were sometimes fired at a target in the Middle East.

He suggested that less experienced crews operating Patriot systems in automatic mode could launch multiple interceptors against a single drone or ballistic missile.

"That's why we now find ourselves in this crisis, because what was expended in the Middle East would have been enough for us for several more years of combat operations with Patriot systems," Ihnat said.

His comparison was an estimate, not a detailed accounting of interceptor inventories or expenditure.

Ukraine struggles to secure interceptors

Ihnat said Ukrainian officials sometimes had to ask partner countries for just a few additional missiles to defend critical facilities.

He acknowledged that European countries operating Patriot systems also needed to preserve their own defensive capabilities.

The shortage is particularly acute as Russia intensifies its ballistic missile attacks.

Ihnat said approximately 80 missiles following ballistic trajectories had targeted Ukraine over the previous week. During one attack involving around 39 missiles, Ukrainian defenses intercepted only five, he said.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States and Middle Eastern countries had expended more than 2,000 Patriot missiles during the initial days of the war against Iran, while Ukraine had received just 24 interceptors from strategic partners over the preceding 90 days.

Zelenskyy has also criticized delays in US authorization for transfers of American-made interceptors from allied countries, even when those countries are willing to provide them.

Ihnat said Ukraine needed more interceptor missiles, expanded weapons production and continued strikes against Russian missile launchers and manufacturing facilities to counter the threat.