Ukraine is at risk of air defense shortages after the Pentagon slowed weapons shipments following a policy review, just as Russia steps up mass aerial attacks.
According to the Financial Times (FT) report, citing Ukrainian and Western officials, deliveries have been irregular since June, raising fears that Ukraine’s stockpiles could be depleted if Moscow maintains its higher tempo of strikes.
“It’s a question of time for when munitions run out,” one person familiar with US deliveries said.
The slowdown followed a memo from Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, urging a shift in focus to countering China.
A White House official rejected claims Washington was depriving Kyiv, saying the US was working “very deliberately” to support Ukraine’s needs, including air defenses.
The review has delayed or reduced shipments of PAC-3 Patriot interceptors, Stingers, Hellfire and AIM missiles, and precision-guided shells, according to senior officials. Each major Russian barrage forces Ukraine to expend interceptors faster than replacements arrive.
On Sunday, Russian forces launched their largest aerial assault since the full-scale invasion, firing more than 800 drones and a dozen missiles, killing four and hitting Kyiv’s cabinet building for the first time.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine urgently needs more short- and medium-range systems to counter Shahed drones.
“The priority is intercepting Russia’s Iran-designed Shahed attack drones,” he said.
Some relief may come through indirect sales: European allies have begun purchasing US weapons for Ukraine after a Trump-brokered deal in August. Kyiv secured $2 billion in commitments last month, but Zelensky says the goal is $1 billion each month to keep pace with Russia’s campaign.
Notably, the strike on Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers building on Sunday was likely not carried out by a Shahed drone but by an Iskander-K cruise missile whose warhead failed to detonate.
According to Defense Express, citing its own sources, the government building in central Kyiv was struck by a 9M727 cruise missile from the Iskander tactical complex during Russia’s large-scale combined attack in the early hours of Sept. 7.
The missile’s 450 kg warhead did not explode, as confirmed by an analysis of the fragments. Instead, the fire on the upper floors was caused by fuel igniting from the missile’s tanks.
The 9M727, commonly referred to as the Iskander-K or R-500, is believed to be a ground-launched variant of the 3M-14 Kalibr. Russian forces have used it frequently against Ukrainian cities, including in a 2023 strike on a drama theater in Chernihiv.
Defense Express stressed that if the warhead had functioned properly, the damage would have been far greater.
On Monday, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova also said the weapon that struck the Cabinet was not a Shahed – though she mistakenly identified it as an Iskander ballistic missile. The remains of the turbojet engine at the site, the outlet said, clearly indicated a cruise missile.
The publication added that, like many Russian weapons, the missile contained Western-made microelectronic components sourced from civilian markets, many of them produced in China.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, Vladyslav Vlasyuk, reported on Facebook that the missile that hit the Cabinet contained more than 30 foreign parts, including components made in the US, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
“Fuel was burning. The warhead did not work, presumably because the missile had been hit. All the exact answers will be provided,” Vlasyuk wrote.
According to him, a similar Iskander examined earlier contained:
- 35 US-made components,
- 1 Japanese,
- 1 British,
- 1 Swiss,
- 5 Belarusian,
- and 57 Russian parts.
Among the foreign manufacturers were Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, and Altera (US); College Electronics Ltd (UK); Fujitsu (Japan); and Traco Power (Switzerland). Belarusian producers included JSC Integral, while Russian firms listed were JSC Micron, JSC Strela Production Association, JSC Angstrem, JSC Exciton Research and Design Bureau, and the Karachevsky Plant Electrodetal.
“Compared to missiles from previous years, there were fewer components from Europe and the US, and more from Russia and Belarus. All information was shared with partners for sanctions response,” Vlasyuk added.