Ukrainian forces fired nearly $100 million worth of air defense missiles battling Russia’s latest bombardment, Kyiv revealed on Tuesday, offering insight into the war’s growing financial toll.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that the Russian attack, which began Monday night and continued into Tuesday, forced Kyiv to launch around €80 million (roughly $94 million) worth of interceptor missiles.
“Imagine that — the cost of these missiles,” Zelenskyy said over WhatsApp in response to a question about interceptor stockpiles.
The staggering figure covers only the interceptor missiles and does not appear to account for any other munitions expended to defend against the Russian attack, which also included hundreds of drones.
Russia launched 18 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and one anti-ship missile overnight, according to data from Ukraine’s air force. It said in a statement that 27 were shot down, while five hit their targets.
Zelenskyy said Russia has “significantly increased” its use of ballistic missiles and has been able to obtain critical technology for the munitions from third-party countries and from industry.
“Nevertheless, their ability to produce these missiles must be reduced — and that is not happening yet,” he said in response to another question.
Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS
Although Ukraine has received some additional air defense systems from Western countries, Zelenskyy said more are still needed, along with additional interceptor missiles to keep pace with Russia’s attacks.
Zelenskyy acknowledged that it has been difficult for Ukraine to obtain the necessary interceptor missiles. He specifically singled out the PAC-3, which has a $3.7 million price tag and is fired from US-made Patriot batteries, as the best chance Kyiv has to defeat Russian ballistic missiles.
“War is an extremely expensive Russian luxury, and for us it results in severe losses,” Zelenskyy said.
Russian missiles are not the only worry for Ukraine. Moscow’s overnight attack involved 339 drones. Kyiv said its Air Force shot down 315 of them. Two dozen hit their targets.
To preserve its costly air defense missiles, Ukraine has been increasingly relying on locally made interceptor drones that cost as little as a few thousand dollars to hunt down and destroy Russian drones.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is producing around 1,000 interceptor drones each day, a goal he set last summer. The challenge now, he said, is that the number of drones has outpaced the number of operators who can control them.
“Therefore, now we must catch up in terms of the number of interceptor groups — the corresponding mobile groups,” Zelenskyy said, adding that he has tasked senior Ukrainian military leadership with bridging the gap.
