Zelenskyy: Kyiv has waited nearly a month for Hegseth to approve Patriot missiles

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday, 26 October, that Kyiv has been waiting almost a month for US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to approve deliveries of interceptor missiles for the Patriot and NASAMS air defence systems. The missiles are vital for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian missile and drone attacks during the war.

In a post on social media, Zelenskyy wrote that Ukraine is working on several tracks: with the United States, Europe and other partners holding stocks of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles. He said he had instructed his team to raise the issue with Washington again, and added that talks with other countries are continuing.

Scale of the attacks

On Sunday, Zelenskyy gave a tally for the previous week: according to him, Russian forces fired 48 missiles, including ballistic ones, around 1,600 guided aerial bombs and close to 2,300 attack drones at Ukraine. He noted on X that almost every day such strikes kill and injure people, and called for the unblocking of Patriot interceptor deliveries already approved by European countries.

Supply channel and strained stockpiles

The Patriot is one of the world's most advanced air defence systems and can be used against a range of threats, including aircraft and ballistic missiles. Ukraine receives most of its Patriot missiles through NATO's Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), an initiative through which allies and partners buy military equipment and munitions from the US. According to NATO, as of June 2026 allies had committed to funding more than $6 billion of defence equipment for Ukraine through the scheme.

Global munitions stocks have come under significant pressure in recent months because of the US war in Iran. A report from the US Department of Defence's inspector general, published in September, said American forces fired munitions worth $22.3 billion from the start of Operation Epic Fury in late February to the end of June. Yurii Ihnat, a colonel in the Ukrainian military, said in an interview published on Monday that the number of Patriot missiles used in the Middle East could have supported several years of combat operations in Ukraine.

It is unclear how many missiles Ukraine is waiting for approval on, although Ukrainian media reports suggest the figure is sizeable.