Zelensky: Patriot and NASAMS delays “directly assist” Russia, as Kyiv reports 16 ballistic missiles and 280 drones overnight

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on 27 October that delays in delivering interceptors for Patriot and NASAMS air defence systems “directly assist” Russia’s campaign, after what he described as an overnight attack with 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones.

According to the Ukrinform report of his remarks, the strikes hit Kyiv, including the Southern Bridge, which Zelensky called “a serious escalation” against Ukraine’s logistics. He said Russia also targeted energy facilities, logistics and urban infrastructure in almost every region, among them Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Kherson and Chernivtsi. The previous evening’s strike on a university campus and the area around it injured 12 people, five of them students or staff, he said. Our earlier report covers the strike on Kyiv and the closure of the Southern Bridge.

On interceptors, Zelensky said: “Each such delay results in another Russian strike hitting a target.” He called for pressure on Russia and concrete support for Ukraine. These figures are Zelensky’s own and have not been independently verified.

A day earlier, he said Ukraine had been waiting “for nearly a month for Mr. Hegseth to sign off on missiles for Patriots and NASAMS,” referring to U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and that he had told his team to raise the matter with Washington again. In that Ukrinform account, he added that Kyiv is working several channels with the United States, Europe and other partners that hold PAC-2 and PAC-3 stocks, and that talks with other countries continue. The Pentagon’s response was not part of the sources read for this report.

The dispute comes as allies prepare for the November Ramstein meeting on support for Ukraine, which Zelensky said had been discussed alongside the need to speed up decisions that have been pending for some time. He had earlier said in an interview that supplies of Patriot missiles had progressed, but very slowly.

Patriot interceptors have also been a question for Greece. Athens has said it will help only as far as possible without weakening its own defence, as set out in Mitsotakis on Patriots for Ukraine: “Whatever is possible, without undermining Greece’s defence capability”. Zelensky’s call for decisions on the pending U.S. approval is the next step to watch before the Ramstein meeting.