Zelenskyy urges Trump and Congress to send more Patriot missiles

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to Donald Trump and the US Congress for more air defense munitions, including Patriot missiles, after Russia struck Ukraine with waves of ballistic missiles.

The Ukrainian president said the Russian missiles represent Vladimir Putin’s “last major advantage on the battlefield” and that neutralizing them would force the Russian leader to negotiate. Russia fired 30 ballistic missiles at Ukraine in a large strike on Sunday, and Ukraine’s air force said only 11 were shot down. Zelenskyy also said Moscow launched two nuclear-capable Oreshnik missiles.

Ukraine’s only system capable of shooting down Russian ballistic missiles is the US-made interceptor fired by the Patriot air defense system. Kyiv has faced shortages of these interceptors throughout four years of war. The US is meant to supply them through the European-financed Purl initiative, but the Iran war and Trump’s stance on Ukraine have put supplies at risk. Ukraine also has the SAMP/T system made by France and Italy, but officials say it needs upgrades to intercept ballistic missiles.

In a letter to Trump and Congress seen by Reuters, Zelenskyy presented missile defense as a way to bring Putin to talks. “As long as Putin still has even one meaningful advantage in conventional weapons, he will avoid conventional diplomacy,” he wrote. “Today, his ballistic missiles remain exactly that – his last major advantage on the battlefield … Ukraine is ready to purchase the number of Patriot systems and interceptor missiles we need … The current pace of deliveries through the Purl programme is no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face.”

Russia’s defense ministry said its forces captured the villages of Hraniv in Kharkiv region and Vozdvyzhivka in Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine’s 14th Army said Hraniv remains under Ukrainian control and that Russian troops suffered heavy losses. The army also denied Russian claims of capturing two villages in Sumy region. DeepState, a Ukrainian war blog, said Russian troops briefly entered Vozdvyzhivka earlier this month but were driven out or killed.

Brig Gen Andriy Biletsky of Ukraine’s Third Army Corps told Reuters that Ukraine has a six-month window to seize the initiative from Russia and strengthen its position for peace talks. “I believe the next six to nine months are a turning point,” he said from a bunker in Kharkiv region. “More precisely, I think the next six are the most critical.”

Biletsky said Russia’s army is exhausted and can no longer make major advances. He said Ukraine can push Russian forces to abandon their remaining goals in Donetsk region. “We need to define those directions where we can improve our positions, take some strategic points, and then speak with the Russians from a position of strength – not weakness – about a truly stable truce,” he said.

John Helin of the Finland-based Black Bird group told Reuters that Russian forces appear fatigued, while Ukraine still faces a manpower shortage. The US-based Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian troops are now challenging the static nature of the fighting and may soon stage limited mechanized assaults.

Anne Keast-Butler, head of Britain’s GCHQ, said nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the invasion more than four years ago. She said Russia is “going backwards on the battlefield” for the first time since late 2022. Western estimates put Russian casualties at about 30,000 a month in April, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying 15,000 to 20,000 of those were killed.

Pope Leo said he is following the war in Ukraine with concern and described a “sharp intensification” of fighting. Speaking at his weekly audience at the Vatican, he said war “does not solve problems, but aggravates them” and that “where missiles and drones fall, hopes also fall.”

Ukraine attacked the port of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea with more than 20 drones and Storm Shadow missiles early Wednesday, according to the city’s governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev. He said buildings including a regional central bank office were damaged. On Monday, Ukraine’s military said it used Storm Shadow missiles to destroy a Russian command post in Luhansk region.