Russian factories are producing more ballistic missiles each month than American manufacturers build Patriot interceptors combined, according to a report from The New York Times citing Ukrainian intelligence estimates.
Russian missile manufacturing has reached 120 units per month, presenting a serious challenge to the defense capabilities of Ukraine and its allies. Authors of the report noted that Ukraine cannot compete with Russia in defense production scale, creating a persistent advantage for the Russian side to increase strike intensity and exhaust Ukrainian air defense resources.
Interceptor Shortages
Russian forces regularly set monthly records for air attacks by exploiting gaps in Ukrainian air defense, which suffers from a critical lack of interceptors. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously complained that the United States cut Patriot missile deliveries to make Kyiv more compliant.
Earlier reports stated that US leader Donald Trump refused Zelenskyy interceptor missiles for Patriot during a meeting at the White House on July 28.
