Russia Kills Three Near Kyiv as Zelensky Pleads for Patriots
SkimNews Take
The cycle of strikes depleting interceptors faster than allies can replace them traps Ukraine in a reactive posture where each Patriot delivery is consumed before the next arrives.
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- Russia killed at least three people, including a child, and injured three others near Kyiv with overnight ballistic missiles, days after 21 people died in a previous barrage.
- Zelensky renewed calls for more US-made Patriot interceptor missiles, saying supplies were 'not enough,' days after Trump appeared to reverse a promise to grant Ukraine a licence to manufacture the systems; Zelensky still publicly claimed a deal existed.
- Trump's administration has scaled back direct military aid to Ukraine since taking office, leaving European allies to buy expensive US Patriot missiles and donate them to Kyiv.
- On his first trip to Serbia, Zelensky met President Aleksandar Vučić — a close Putin ally who has refused to impose sanctions on Russia — and secured a pledge of support for Ukraine's European Union accession.
- Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Ilsky and Syzran oil refineries overnight, causing fires at both, as part of an effort to limit the oil revenues Moscow uses to finance the war.
- A drone entered Bulgarian airspace from Romania and exploded near an international gas pipeline carrying a 'significant' amount of explosives; Ukraine's foreign ministry said it could 'say with certainty' its forces did not intentionally direct assets toward Bulgaria, but stopped short of admitting the drone was Ukrainian.
Why it matters: The latest Russian barrage killed three near Kyiv — including a child — days after 21 died in a previous strike, as Ukraine's dwindling Western-donated Patriot interceptors leave its airspace exposed. Trump walked back a promise to license domestic Patriot production, keeping European allies on the hook for expensive US missile purchases while Kyiv retaliates by striking Russian oil infrastructure.
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