Russia strike exposes Ukraine air defense gap before NATO summit

Aliaksandr Kudrytski, Bloomberg News on Jul 6, 2026

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A deadly overnight attack on the eve of the NATO summit highlighted Kyiv’s growing vulnerability as shortages of U.S.-made Patriot air defenses become acute and peace talks remain stalled.

Eleven people were killed and 60 injured in the overnight strikes on Kyiv that caused destruction in several districts of the city, damaging multiple residential buildings, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X Monday. Three others were killed in the surrounding capital region, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram.

Ukraine didn’t shoot down any of the 23 Iskander-M ballistic missiles or the six high-speed Zircon and Oniks missiles launched by Russia, according to a Ukrainian Air Force tally published on Telegram. It had more success with slower-flying cruise missiles.

“As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings,” Zelenskyy said. “The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror.”

The attack followed days after 30 people died and nearly 100 were injured in the deadliest Russian missile and drone assault on Kyiv in almost a year.

Ukraine had previously intercepted roughly one-third of the ballistic missiles fired in Russia’s large-scale barrages, and sometimes even more. The rate fell below 20% in last week’s strike on Kyiv before dropping to zero on Thursday, highlighting Kyiv’s growing shortage of PAC-3 interceptor missiles for U.S.-made Patriot systems, the only air-defense weapon in its arsenal capable of reliably countering ballistic threats.

“As for ballistic missiles, the situation is still not very encouraging,” Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said on 1+1 TV on Monday. “Russians are apparently using the factor of some serious deficit of PAC-2 as well as PAC-3 missiles in Ukraine as well as in the world, so they are concentrating on ballistic strikes.”

Ukraine’s persistent interceptor deficit may prompt Russia to focus on ramping up production of ballistic missiles, even if their production takes longer and is more complicated than for cruise varieties, Ihnat said. The significant destruction in the capital overnight was mainly caused by Russian ballistic missiles, he said.

Zelenskyy is set to make another push for Washington to help provide his country with essential weapons when he meets President Donald Trump in Ankara during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit that begins on Tuesday.

The reason for the plunge in performance against Russian ballistics lies in the insufficient supply of interceptor missiles, Zelenskyy said on X on Monday. It is critically important for the U.S. and European partners to come out of the NATO Summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of Ukraine’s air defense, he said.

European leaders, who Trump has accused of giving only tepid backing for his war with Iran, have called for renewed efforts to bring about peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump discussed Ukraine and the upcoming NATO summit in a phone call Saturday. The U.S. president also spoke with Zelenskyy, with the two leaders discussing the situation on the front line as well as diplomatic efforts to end the war that’s now in its fifth year.