Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted on Tuesday the difficulties Ukraine faces in intercepting Russian ballistic missiles, after another large-scale Russian attack that killed at least two people. In a message on social media X, Zelensky explained that Ukrainian fighter jets shot down 175 aerial targets during the night, but that, despite the good results with cruise missiles, ballistic missiles remain particularly difficult to intercept.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Andriy Sybiga, denounced Russia's massive attack on Kiev, which occurred during the night, right after the visit of American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Sybiga criticized Putin, saying that "as soon as the peace envoys of the US President left, Putin launched another massive and horrible attack on Kiev", noting that "ballistic missiles speak louder than his speeches about diplomacy".
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, air defenses intercepted 31 of the 32 cruise missiles launched by Russia, but only two ballistic missiles. The Air Force has stopped disclosing the number of missiles launched by Russia since August due to the drastic drop in interception rates.
Zelensky announced new meetings, starting Tuesday, with representatives from countries and companies that can supply PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defense systems, the most effective in intercepting ballistic missiles. In addition to Kiev, where residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged, the Russian attack also hit a market in the outskirts of Odessa, a locomotive on a train between Kiev and Sumy, and a railway station in the Sumy region.
