Ukraine seeks cheaper Patriot missiles as Kramatorsk evacuates children
Kyiv continues talks with US arms makers on a lower-cost Patriot interceptor, while Russian strikes kill 17 in the capital and force evacuations in the east.
Ukraine could benefit from Lockheed Martin's project to build a new, cheaper Patriot interceptor known as the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE), according to Reuters. Despite Donald Trump raising doubts about a deal for Ukraine to produce the desperately needed Patriots, no order to halt discussions has been given, and talks with US arms manufacturers and military officials are ongoing. Ukraine has proven skilled at making large numbers of significantly cheaper missiles and drones that are equally or more effective than those from Western allies.
At least 17 people died on Wednesday as Kyiv came under heavy Russian bombardment again. Ukrainian forces, lacking suitable interceptors, failed to shoot down a single missile. A US official told Reuters that the most viable option would be to produce some Patriot components in Ukraine and assemble them in Germany, where an older Patriot model is already built and the more advanced PAC-3 is expected to be manufactured as well. Trump has cited security concerns about handing over highly classified Patriot blueprints in full to Ukraine.
Officials caution that any plan involving Ukraine in Patriot production could still take a year or more, with new component lines typically requiring three to seven years after a licensing deal. Lockheed Martin suggested an accelerated timeline for the PAC-3 ACE on 20 July, highlighting that using the same launchers and software would speed development. The interceptors would cost less than half of a regular Patriot missile, the company said.
In Germany, the interior minister warned of "a new level of danger" after a drone carrying explosives was found at Leipzig airport, while a DHL plane in flight was hit by a flying object. Police used a bomb disposal robot to defuse and destroy the device. Suspicion has fallen on Russia, given the airport's role as a NATO and German military logistics hub and its status as the European base for Ukraine's Antonov Airlines. The quadcopter was found near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane.
Vladimir Tkachuk, head of Russian drone manufacturer Uraldronzavod, was critically injured in a car bombing, reportedly the latest in a series of assassination attempts against figures linked to Russia's war in Ukraine. A bomb planted under his Mercedes exploded, killing his bodyguard. On Saturday, an explosion outside an upscale restaurant in central Moscow killed five people, where Col Gen Aleksandr Chayko, commander of Russia's aerospace forces, was reportedly celebrating his birthday.
Ukrainian authorities have ordered hundreds of families with children to leave the city of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region due to intensifying Russian strikes. Russian forces are within 20km of the city's eastern edge, according to DeepState, a war monitor close to the Ukrainian army. A total of 525 children and their guardians are being forcibly evacuated. Kramatorsk is part of the "fortress belt" that Ukrainian troops are fighting to hold.
Russia's Saratov refinery stopped processing crude oil on 2 August after a Ukrainian drone attack damaged production facilities and started fires at the Rosneft-owned plant. The refinery's only crude distillation unit, CDU-6, was shut down and may take two to three weeks to repair. Russia's imports of gasoline and diesel from Belarus surged in July as Ukrainian strikes disabled Russian oil refineries.
