Two people were killed and at least four wounded in overnight Russian drone strikes on Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his country's air defence supplies are running critically low. A 16-year-old boy died in an attack on Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine roughly 150 kilometres north of Kyiv, where rescue workers discovered his body while clearing rubble. Seven residential buildings were damaged in the city, three of which burned to the ground, along with an administrative building, a school, and two cars. In the southern city of Kherson, a 41-year-old man was killed when a drone struck the vehicle he was driving. A separate strike in Poltawa, a city in central Ukraine, destroyed a locomotive but caused no casualties.
Ukraine's air force reported that Russia launched a total of 236 drones overnight, of which more than 200 were intercepted. Nevertheless, strikes hit 18 locations across the country. In response, Ukraine said it attacked a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog, a port city in southern Russia, sparking fires in warehouse buildings where drones are designed and produced. Russia confirmed a fire in Taganrog and said three people were injured there, while also claiming it had shot down 274 Ukrainian drones and one missile overnight.
Zelensky, who appeared on Dutch television programme Buitenhof this week as part of a tour of several European countries, said Ukraine has nearly exhausted its stock of Patriot interceptor missiles. He described situations during the past winter in which Patriot systems were ready to fire but had no missiles left to use. Over the course of this week alone, he said Russia deployed more than 2,300 drones and nearly 60 rockets against Ukraine.
The air defence shortage reflects a broader structural problem. Russia has sharply increased its weapons production over the past several years and, according to EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, produces nearly four times as many cruise missiles as all EU countries combined. Defence analysts note that Russia is currently manufacturing more ballistic missiles than the entire Western alliance produces in interceptor rockets. A single Patriot air defence battery costs around 400 million dollars, and each interceptor missile costs between one and four million dollars — with waiting times for new systems estimated at up to ten years.
The situation has been further complicated by demand from the Middle East, where Gulf states are seeking to replenish Patriot stocks after the recent conflict involving Iran. Estimates suggest more Patriot missiles were fired in the first days of that conflict than Ukraine has used in three years of war. Germany announced this week it would supply Ukraine with several hundred Patriot missiles, though the delivery is spread over four years. Analysts and NATO officials are calling for a rapid expansion of European air defence production capacity, warning that the gap between what Ukraine needs and what the West can supply continues to widen.