Ukraine Cites Month-Long Missile Wait

Ukraine has waited nearly 30 days for the United States to approve critical air defense munitions, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. He made the disclosure on Monday while Russian forces intensified strikes on energy infrastructure and civilian targets.

Zelensky posted on X/Twitter that he had instructed his team to raise the issue with American counterparts again. The delay concerns orders for Patriot and NASAMS missiles purchased by NATO allies under the PURL program. The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly urged Washington to accelerate deliveries before the onset of winter.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the backlog last week. He acknowledged that a specific batch of interceptors might have missed its delivery window. However, he stated that the hold was not due to political motivations.

The stalled approvals add to existing friction between Kyiv and Washington. President Donald Trump recently announced a diesel deal with Russia and criticized Zelensky for not halting Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.

Ukrainian officials also reported operational setbacks in recent weeks. They cited gaps in US intelligence sharing regarding Russian missile trajectories. Additionally, the military version of Starlink experienced throttling for several days, which disrupted air defense systems.

Reuters reported that the order to limit Starshield access originated from inside the White House. Both SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and US officials have publicly stated that only the other party could have authorized the restrictions.