Zelensky: 5% of U.S. interceptor missiles would get Ukraine through the winter; 10% would stop all Russian ballistic missiles
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with CNN that Ukraine is receiving two and a half times fewer interceptor missiles this year than it did in 2025, even as Russia has doubled the number of ballistic missiles it launches each month.
Likely referring to U.S. stockpiles, Zelensky said that if the U.S. would “sell us 5%, we will go through the winter and save people’s lives. If they can sell us 10%, we will destroy all the Russians’ ballistic missiles. I have 1%.” He added:
This is what I live each day: from 1% to 5%. I have some months, and million phone calls … I try to exchange something to missiles … I do some things which I can’t even share. It doesn’t mean that it’s outside of the law. But I can’t speak about it.
Patriot missile systems are critical to Ukraine’s air defenses amid Russia’s regular strikes, and Zelensky has repeatedly pressed allies for new missile shipments. In early August, he said that Ukraine had run out of interceptor missiles for its Patriot systems.
Donald Trump, responding to Zelensky’s calls for more Patriot missiles, argued that the U.S. needs them for itself.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.