Cut-price Patriot among options in desperate search for missile defence — Nato to 'urgently' get air defences as Zelenskyy warns of surge in Russian missile production

6 August 2026 | Kyiv, Washington, Brussels — Updated 23:30 GMT

Ukraine could benefit from a Lockheed Martin project to build a new, lower-cost Patriot interceptor, the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) missile, Reuters has reported. The news agency, citing defence and US government sources, said that despite Donald Trump casting doubt on a deal for Ukraine to build desperately needed Patriots, "no order was given to halt the discussions", and talks continued with US arms makers, military officials and others. Ukraine has proven adept at producing large volumes of dramatically cheaper yet equally or more effective missiles and drones compared with those made by western allies.

At least 17 people died on Wednesday as Kyiv again came under heavy Russian bombardment. Ukrainian forces, starved of suitable interceptors, were unable to shoot down a single missile. A US official told Reuters that the most feasible option for Patriots would be making some components in Ukraine and assembling them in Germany, where an older Patriot model is already made and the more advanced PAC-3 is expected to be produced as well. Trump has raised security concerns about handing over highly secretive Patriot blueprints in their entirety to Ukraine.

Nato is working to get Ukraine the air defences it "urgently needs", its secretary general has said, after Kyiv failed to shoot down a single Russian missile in an attack on Wednesday, and as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was seeking to significantly boost missile production ahead of winter.

Welcome to the latest world headlines — where air defence, missile production, and the war of attrition collide across Ukraine.

Cut-Price Patriot Among Options as Ukraine Desperately Seeks Missile Defence

Ukraine could benefit from a Lockheed Martin project to build a new, lower-cost Patriot interceptor, the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) missile, Reuters has reported. The news agency, citing defence and US government sources, said that despite Donald Trump casting doubt on a deal for Ukraine to build desperately needed Patriots, "no order was given to halt the discussions", and talks continued with US arms makers, military officials and others.

A US official told Reuters that the most feasible option for Patriots would be making some components in Ukraine and assembling them in Germany, where an older Patriot model is already made and the more advanced PAC-3 is expected to be produced as well. Trump has raised security concerns about handing over highly secretive Patriot blueprints in their entirety to Ukraine.

Any plan for Ukraine to be involved in Patriot production could still take a year or more to come to fruition, officials have cautioned, with new component lines typically not up and running until three to seven years after a licensing deal is signed. Lockheed Martin suggested an accelerated timeline for Patriot PAC-3 ACE in an announcement on 20 July, emphasising that the use of the same launchers and software would speed up development. The interceptors would cost less than half of a normal Patriot missile, it claimed.

Russia Launches Massive Ballistic Missile and Drone Strike on Kyiv

At least 17 people died on Wednesday as Kyiv again came under heavy Russian bombardment. Ukrainian forces, starved of suitable interceptors, were unable to shoot down a single missile.

Russia launched 24 ballistic missiles in an overnight attack on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people. Preliminary data from the Ukrainian air force showed its defences shot down 98 of the 115 drones fired by Russia overnight, but none of the ballistic missiles.

Russian strikes on homes killed three people in Ukraine's eastern city of Balakliia, authorities said on Thursday. Another three people were killed and at least 19 wounded in Russian attacks on settlements in the northern region of Sumy. Twelve more were wounded in the city of Sumy itself following an attack with guided aerial bombs, the Ukrainian police said. A drone attack on a van wounded six in the southern region of Kherson, the regional administration said.

Nato to 'Urgently' Get Air Defences as Zelenskyy Warns of Surge in Russian Missile Production

Nato is working to get Ukraine the air defences it "urgently needs", its secretary general has said, after Kyiv failed to shoot down a single Russian missile in an attack on Wednesday, and as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was seeking to significantly boost missile production ahead of winter.

Speaking at a National Security and Defense Council meeting on winter resilience, the Ukrainian president did not rule out the idea that stalling missile supplies from western allies were "aimed at making Ukraine, so to speak, more willing to compromise" in peace talks with Russia.

After meeting Nato's Mark Rutte, Zelenskyy said: "It is important to cut through all red tape and make the necessary political decisions. Literally every day, people's lives here in Ukraine depend on the resolve of our partners in Europe and the United States."

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy said that in the first half of 2026, supplies of air defence missiles from Ukraine's allies had fallen to a third of their 2025 level.

The president also warned that Moscow was looking to significantly increase ballistic missile production as winter neared, when it is expected to renew its campaign against Ukraine's energy sector.

Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's president on the development of defence technology, estimated that Russia was capable of launching 100 ballistic missiles every month to attack logistic hubs, industrial facilities, food stores and warehouses. "The war of attrition has entered its next phase," he said on the Telegram app.

Patriot Interceptor Shortage Worsens as US Inventory Drops 65%

Ukraine has been short on US-made Patriot interceptors capable of downing Russian ballistic missiles since the start of the war. But in recent weeks, an acute shortage has come into focus, with Moscow pummelling Kyiv, on average, every three days in July alone. Zelenskyy said the shortage of interceptor missiles was mainly caused by the war in the Middle East.

Patriot missile systems are the only system in Ukrainian service able to intercept the Russian Iskander-M, S-400 and Zircon missiles, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Russia often combines ballistic missiles with cruise missiles, drones and decoys, forcing defenders to track many threats and ration scarce interceptors, but Ukraine says it has too few batteries and interceptors to properly protect itself.

The interceptor shortage has become more acute as a result of the US-Israel war on Iran, which has consumed large numbers of Patriot and other interceptors. An analysis by the Associated Press estimated that the US Patriot inventory had fallen by at least 65% since before the war. The Pentagon claims it retains a deep arsenal of supplies.

Production cannot immediately close the gap. Lockheed Martin delivered more than 600 of the newest model of interceptors in 2025 and is working toward annual capacity of 2,000 by the end of 2030. But according to some estimates, Gulf states collectively fired more than 1,100 interceptors in the first three months of the Iran war.

Nato says Europe's first Patriot missile production facility is expected to open in September in Germany.

Political signals from Washington have also shifted. At a Nato summit last month, Donald Trump said the US would give Ukraine a licence to produce Patriots. About three weeks later, he said he had not made a final decision. Even with a licence, officials and experts estimate that starting production in Ukraine would take years.

Despite Trump casting doubt on the deal last month, the US is pressing ahead with talks on allowing Ukraine to make Patriot interceptors, according to reports from Reuters. The discussions include an option for Ukraine to build some components for final assembly elsewhere in Europe, according to the report.

Ukrainian Drones Hit Russian Oil Refineries as Saratov Plant Shuts Down

A recently repaired major Russian oil refinery was back on fire on Thursday morning after being hit by Ukrainian drones for the second night in a row, according to online monitors. The Slavneft-Yanos plant refines about 15m tonnes of oil a year. Over Wednesday night the Russian regional governor announced Ukrainian drones were attacking Yaroslavl oblast.

Russia's Saratov refinery stopped processing crude oil on 2 August after a Ukrainian drone attack damaged production facilities and triggered fires at the plant owned by the country's largest oil company Rosneft, two industry sources told Reuters. They said the refinery's CDU-6 crude distillation unit, its only crude processing unit, was shut down. The unit, with a nominal capacity of 20,000 tonnes of oil per day, could take between two and three weeks to repair.

Russia's imports of gasoline and diesel from Belarus surged in July because of Ukrainian strikes disabling Russian oil refineries, according to calculations by Reuters.

Germany Warns of 'New Level of Danger' After Drone Incident at Leipzig Airport

Germany's interior minister warned of "a new level of danger" after a drone carrying explosives was found at Leipzig airport, while a DHL plane in flight was hit by a flying object. German police used a bomb disposal robot to defuse and destroy the explosive device.

Deborah Cole and Andrew Roth write that suspicion has fallen on Russia given the airport's status as a Nato and German military logistics hub, and as the base for Ukraine's Antonov Airlines in Europe. The quadcopter fitted with an explosive device was found near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane, according to media reports.

Vladimir Tkachuk, the head of Russian drone manufacturer Uraldronzavod, was critically injured in a car bombing, in what appeared to be the latest in a series of assassination attempts targeting figures linked to the country's war in Ukraine. A bomb planted beneath his Mercedes exploded, according to Russian state media, killing his bodyguard. On Saturday an explosion outside an upmarket restaurant in central Moscow killed five people. Col Gen Aleksandr Chayko, the commander of Russia's aerospace forces, was reportedly celebrating his birthday at the restaurant.

Ukrainian Authorities Order Forced Evacuation of 525 Children from Kramatorsk

Ukrainian authorities have ordered hundreds of families with children to leave the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine because of intensifying Russian strikes. Russian forces are within 20km (12 miles) of the city's eastern edge, according to DeepState, a war monitor close to the Ukrainian army. A total of 525 children and their guardians are being forcibly evacuated. Kramatorsk is part of the "fortress belt" that Ukraine's troops are fighting to hold.

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