Russian drones and missiles killed four people in Ukraine overnight, while Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine killed five, bringing the total death toll to nine in the latest round of mutual attacks.
The exchange underscores a grim reality more than four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion: neither side can protect its population from the other’s long-range weapons. And for Ukraine, the problem is getting worse.
Ukraine is particularly vulnerable to Russian ballistic missiles due to a critical shortage of Patriot munitions. The US-made air defense systems have been Ukraine’s most effective shield against Russian Kinzhal and Iskander missiles, which travel at speeds that Ukraine’s other systems, the German IRIS-T and Norwegian NASAMS, struggle to intercept. These shorter-range systems lack the Patriot’s ability to engage ballistic missiles at altitude, meaning more get through.
The Patriot shortage is not new. Military experts warned months ago that Ukraine could face a deficit within one to three months, especially as tensions in the Middle East divert American production. The US has been redirecting Patriot missiles to the Middle East to support operations against Iran and to protect American bases in the Gulf, tightening the supply for Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that the US has not halted deliveries. But the numbers tell a different story. Russia has been exploiting the gaps, launching waves of missile and drone barrages that Ukrainian air defenses increasingly cannot fully stop.
Monday’s attacks, which killed 22 people in Kyiv alone, were a brutal demonstration. Russia has been systematically targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and residential areas, testing where the air defense coverage has thinned.
Ukraine has not stood idle. Its drone program has matured significantly, striking Russian oil refineries and military depots hundreds of kilometers inside Russian territory. These strikes have forced Russia to redeploy air defenses to protect domestic infrastructure, thinning coverage at the front lines. But Ukraine’s drones, while effective, cannot match the destructive power of a Russian ballistic missile.
The result is a grinding war of attrition in the air. Russia launches, Ukraine intercepts what it can, and civilians pay the price for every missile that gets through. With Patriot supplies squeezed by two wars, one in Ukraine, one in the Middle East, the coming weeks look likely to bring more of the same.