kyiv, Ukraine – Ukraine has run out of missiles for the US-made Patriot air defense system, leaving it more vulnerable to Russian ballistic missile attacks, a source familiar with the situation told CNN on Thursday. The crude development comes amid an increasingly bitter public dispute between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. In recent days, the White House reached a much-criticized deal to import Russian diesel and put increasing pressure on Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. Zelensky said he felt betrayed by Trump’s deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has since announced that Ukraine would continue attacking Russian refineries. For months, Zelensky has repeatedly warned that Ukraine is running out of American-made Patriot interceptor missiles, which are one of the few defensive weapons capable of shooting down a ballistic missile. But interceptors are expensive and in short supply globally as other countries have burned through their arsenals or tried to bolster their own defense systems amid the war in Iran. The source told CNN that “almost all of the ballistic missiles from the last attack were not intercepted due to a lack of missiles (interceptors).” Russian ballistic missiles hit three power plants in kyiv and targeted energy infrastructure in Kharkiv during that attack overnight Wednesday morning. That day four people died in Kyiv and 25 were injured. The Ukrainian Air Force previously said it intercepted four Russian ballistic missiles while defending against that attack, suggesting it used the last Patriots it had. This is not believed to be the first time Ukraine has run out of Patriot interceptors, and Zelensky has publicly expressed his continued struggle to obtain more stock. In mid-August, CNN became the first media outlet to have access to a Patriot system on Ukrainian soil, and at that time Ukrainian officials revealed that the country had virtually run out of interceptors. Zelensky told CNN in August that he spends his days making “millions” of phone calls with allies, working to reach deals for more Patriots. At the time, he said Ukraine had only a tenth of the interceptor missiles it urgently needed. A month later, the Ukrainian president adopted a more hopeful tone: he stated that the country “will receive a license to manufacture Patriot missiles” from the United States. But US President Donald Trump ultimately refused to say whether he agreed to that, and the license never materialized. Tensions between Zelensky and Trump have risen in recent days amid Washington’s request that kyiv stop its attacks on Russian fuel facilities, even as Moscow continued to hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Zelensky told the Financial Times in a fiery interview that he could only agree to stop energy attacks against Russia if he was given more Patriot interceptors as a “minimum.” He added that “when he asked for more air defenses, the US response was to weaken the Starlink service.” In a public statement on Wednesday, he once again advocated for more stocks, saying: “The American president has all the effective and necessary tools to bring peace closer through force, justice and pressure on the aggressor. We request additional packages of Patriot missile interceptors for Ukraine.” Ahead of the US midterm elections, Trump has increasingly attributed rising global diesel prices to the war between Ukraine and Russia, even though the Iran war plays a larger role in fuel price increases. Earlier this week, the Trump administration warned Ukraine and its allies in Europe that the United States could suspend European purchases of American weapons and intelligence sharing for Ukraine if kyiv does not stop its deep attacks on Russian energy facilities, two European officials told CNN. Warnings from the State Department and Pentagon were sent over the weekend to officials in Ukraine and Europe, including communications from the U.S. military directly to Ukrainian commanders. Since then, Trump has insisted that the United States has not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. If the administration decided to suspend European weapons purchases, which are made through a mechanism called the Ukrainian Prioritized Requirements List, or PURL, that would threaten any future shipments of Patriot interceptors used to defend against ballistic missiles. Running out of Patriot interceptors is far from the only problem plaguing Ukraine this week, as the country also faces disruptions to intelligence sharing and restrictions on the military-grade version of Elon Musk’s Starlink, called Starshield. Ukrainian authorities said they were caught off guard this week by a Starshield choke, which disrupted military operations, logistics and the interception of aircraft-powered drone attacks. On Thursday, Starshield operations were partially restored, but Ukrainian officials indicated there are still some problems with the high-velocity military munitions. SpaceX CEO Musk said on his social media platform A Ukrainian Defense Ministry source told CNN on Thursday that “as of now, Starshield operations have resumed and continue.” The source added that the ministry is speaking with all parties involved “to determine all the causes and circumstances of yesterday’s restrictions.” Meanwhile, Zelensky indicated that some restrictions still exist. The Ukrainian president said Thursday morning that Russia had launched more than 850 attack drones since midnight “at a time when the speed of our defensive capabilities is being artificially restricted.” Ukraine’s top diplomat in Washington, Denys Sienik, echoed that Starshield speeds have improved but not been fully restored. “We hope everything returns to the previous level,” he told CNN. kyiv has not received a response from SpaceX or the Pentagon, another Ukrainian official told CNN. A Ukrainian drone commander who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity said his unit experienced restrictions on Starlink operations on Wednesday, preventing some attack drones from hitting their targets. The commander said his unit did not launch any attacks Thursday due to adverse weather, but other units were operating normally.
