Zelensky says Ukraine needs 5% of US Patriot missiles to survive winter

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said Wednesday that Ukraine requires 5% of United States Patriot surface-to-air missile system stockpiles to survive the coming winter, according to remarks made in a CNN interview.

Zelensky stated that Ukraine currently possesses only 1% of the US Patriot missile stockpile. He said that this year Ukraine received 2.5 times fewer interceptor missiles for Patriot systems compared to 2025.

"If the US sell us 5%, we will go through the winter," Zelensky said in the interview. He added that if Ukraine received 10% of US stockpiles, "we will destroy all the Russian ballistic missiles."

Russia has escalated its ballistic missile campaign against Ukraine. According to Zelensky, Russia launches double the number of ballistic missiles each month compared to previous periods. He described nightly bombardments and stated that massive attacks occur four to five times per month.

"There are bombardments every night, and four or five times a month there are massive attacks. They are terrible nights," Zelensky said.

July was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since April 2022, when the Russian invasion began, according to the United Nations. Large-scale attacks struck Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia during that period.

Zelensky acknowledged that he is pursuing various negotiations to obtain additional missiles. "This is what I live each day: from 1% to 5%. I have some months, and million phone calls. I try to exchange something to missiles. I do some things which I can't even share. It doesn't mean that it's outside of the law. But I can't speak about it," he said.

The Ukrainian president indicated uncertainty regarding whether US President Donald Trump would approve additional missile sales to Ukraine.