The soaring demand for Patriot missiles, from the Middle East to Ukraine

Ukrainian Air Force F-16 fighter jets fly over a Patriot air and missile defense system in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, on Aug. 4, 2024. Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption

KYIV, Ukraine, and WASHINGTON — Russia's massive air assault against Ukraine before dawn on Saturday included 27 ballistic missiles, many pounding the capital Kyiv, killing nine people and wounding more than 30. The attack was larger than most, though Russia carries out airstrikes almost every night.

What made this notable was Ukraine's inability to defend itself. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the military shot down just one of those Russian missiles.

"Only one ballistic missile was intercepted, simply because there are no interceptors for the Patriot systems," the Ukrainian leader wrote on social media .

Zelenskyy was referring to the U.S.-made Patriot air defense system that is the country's only reliable way to defend against Russian ballistic missile attacks. Ukraine has been largely helpless in similar Russian onslaughts in recent weeks.

Ukraine faces the most urgent need for a fresh supply of Patriot interceptors. But the U.S. also has concerns about its own stockpiles of Patriots, which have declined dramatically during the war in Iran.

In addition, U.S. allies in the Gulf are also wondering when they will be able to get more Patriots if there's renewed fighting with Iran and they exhaust their current inventories.

In June, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called news reports about a shortage of Patriot missiles a "manufactured story." However, two months earlier, Hegseth acknowledged that replenishing missile stockpiles could take "months and years."