Exclusive: Ukraine runs out of Patriot interceptor missiles as Zelensky and Trump clash over war

By Victoria Butenko, Lauren Kent, CNN

Kyiv, Ukraine (CNN) — Ukraine has run out of missiles for the US-made Patriot air defense system, leaving it more vulnerable to Russian ballistic missile attacks, a source familiar with the situation told CNN on Thursday.

The stark development comes amid an increasingly bitter public feud between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. In recent days, the White House struck a highly criticized deal to import Russian diesel and heaped increasing pressure on Ukraine to halt its strikes on Russia’s oil infrastructure.

Zelensky said he felt betrayed by Trump’s deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has since announced Ukraine would continue striking Russian refineries.

For months, Zelensky has repeatedly warned that Ukraine is running out of the US-made Patriot interceptor missiles, which are one of the few defensive weapons capable of knocking down a ballistic missile.

But the interceptors are both expensive and in short supply globally, as other countries have burned through their stockpiles or sought to shore up their own defense systems amid the war in Iran.

The source told CNN that “almost all the ballistic missiles from the last strike were not intercepted due to lack of the (interceptor) missiles.”

Russian ballistic missiles hit three power plants in Kyiv and targeted energy infrastructure in Kharkiv during that attack overnight into Wednesday morning. Four people in Kyiv were killed and 25 injured on that day.

The Ukrainian Air Force previously said it intercepted four Russian ballistic missiles while defending against that attack, which suggests it used the last few Patriots it had.

It’s not thought to be the first time Ukraine has fully run out of Patriot interceptors and Zelensky has been publicly vocal about his constant struggle to obtain more stocks.

In mid-August, CNN became the first media outlet to be given access to a Patriot system on Ukrainian territory, and at the time Ukrainian officials revealed the country had pretty much run out of interceptors.

Zelensky told CNN in August that his days are spent on “millions” of phone calls with allies, working to make deals for more Patriots. At the time, he said Ukraine only had a tenth of the interceptor missiles it urgently needed.

A month later, the Ukrainian president struck a more hopeful tone – claiming that the country “will receive a license to manufacture Patriot missiles” from the United States. But US President Donald Trump ultimately declined to say whether he agreed to that, and a license never materialized.

Tensions between Zelensky and Trump have bubbled over in recent days amid Washington’s request that Kyiv halt its strikes on Russian fuel facilities, even as Moscow continued to pummel Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Zelensky told the Financial Times in a fiery interview that he could only agree to halt energy strikes on Russia if he was given more Patriot interceptors at a “minimum.” He added that “when he asked for more air defenses the American response was to weaken Starlink’s service.”

In a public statement on Wednesday, he pleaded once again for more stocks, saying: “The American president has all the effective and necessary tools to bring peace closer through strength, justice, and pressure on the aggressor. We ask for additional packages of Patriot missile interceptors for Ukraine.”

Ahead of the US midterm elections, Trump has increasingly blamed the rise in global diesel prices on the Ukraine-Russia war, despite the Iran war playing a more significant role in the fuel price spikes.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration warned Ukraine and allies in Europe that the US could suspend European purchases of US weapons and intelligence sharing for Ukraine if Kyiv does not halt its deep strikes on Russian energy facilities, two European officials told CNN. The warnings from the State Department and the Pentagon were sent over the weekend to officials in Ukraine and Europe, including communications from the US military directly to Ukrainian commanders.

Trump has since insisted that the US had not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

If the administration did decide to suspend European weapons purchases — which take place via a mechanism called the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL — that would threaten any future shipments of the Patriot interceptors used to defend against ballistic missiles.

Ukraine says Starshield not fully restored

Running out of Patriot interceptors is far from the only problem plaguing Ukraine this week, as the country also contends with disruptions to intelligence sharing and restrictions on the military-grade version of Elon Musk’s Starlink, called Starshield.

Ukrainian authorities said they were caught off-guard this week by a throttling of Starshield, which disrupted military operations, logistics and the interception of jet-powered drone attacks.

By Thursday, Starshield operations were partially restored, but Ukrainian officials indicated there are still some issues for high-speed military ordnance.

SpaceX CEO Musk said on his social media platform X that Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government, also noting that any limits on its speed or usage are up to the US military and president.

CNN has reached out to the White House and the Pentagon for comment.

A Ukrainian Defense Ministry source told CNN on Thursday that “as of now, Starshield’s operations have resumed and are continuing.” The source added that the ministry is talking with all parties involved “to determine all the causes and circumstances of yesterday’s restrictions.”

Meanwhile, Zelensky indicated that some restrictions are still in place. The Ukrainian president said on Thursday morning that Russia had launched more than 850 attack drones since midnight “at a time when the speed of our defensive capabilities is being artificially restricted.”

Ukraine’s top diplomat in Washington, Denys Sienik, echoed that Starshield speeds have improved but are not fully restored. “We hope all will be resumed to the previous level,” he told CNN.

Kyiv has received no response from SpaceX or the Pentagon, another Ukrainian official told CNN.

A Ukrainian drone commander who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity said that his unit experienced restrictions on Starlink operations on Wednesday, which prevented some strike drones from reaching their targets. The commander said his unit did not launch any strikes on Thursday due to adverse weather, but other units were operating normally.

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CNN’s Svitlana Vlasova, Nick Paton Walsh, Jim Sciutto and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report. This story has been updated with additional developments.