Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched 35 missiles at Ukraine overnight, including 27 ballistic missiles. He said Ukrainian forces intercepted only one ballistic missile because Ukraine does not have enough missiles for its Patriot air-defense systems.
“This night, the Russians fired 35 missiles at Ukraine, 27 of them ballistic,” Zelensky said. “Only one ballistic missile was managed to be shot down today at night simply because there are no missiles for the Patriots.”
Figures cited by Zelensky
The figures presented by Zelensky describe a missile attack involving 35 launches. Ballistic missiles accounted for 27 of those launches, while the remaining eight missiles were not identified by type in his statement.
Zelensky said only one ballistic missile was shot down. He attributed that outcome to a shortage of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems, linking the limited interception figure directly to the availability of ammunition for those air-defense units.
The statement did not identify the locations targeted by the launches, the types of the eight missiles that were not described as ballistic, or the total number of casualties and damage caused by the overnight attack. It also did not provide a breakdown of the Patriot systems involved or the number of interceptor missiles available to Ukraine.
Air-defense constraint
Patriot systems use interceptor missiles to engage incoming threats. In his statement, Zelensky referred specifically to the lack of missiles for those systems rather than saying that the systems themselves were unavailable. His account connected the number of ballistic missiles intercepted with the quantity of ammunition available for the Patriot batteries.
The Ukrainian president did not say whether other Ukrainian air-defense systems engaged the remaining ballistic missiles or the other missiles launched overnight. No further operational details were included in the statement provided.
The figures and explanation were given by Zelensky in the context of the overnight missile attack. The available account does not include a separate Russian statement about the launches, nor does it provide an independent assessment of the number of missiles fired or intercepted.
Russia has repeatedly used missile and drone strikes against Ukraine during the war, but the statement provided for this report contains no broader comparison with earlier attacks. It also does not specify the date, the launch points, the intended targets or whether the reported missile launches formed one coordinated wave.
For now, the reported details are limited to the numbers cited by Zelensky: 35 missiles launched, 27 identified as ballistic, and one ballistic missile intercepted. Further information on the attack, its effects and Ukraine’s air-defense response was not included.
