Kyiv strike exposes air defence gap before Ankara Nato summit
A Russian missile barrage that killed 21 people in Kyiv has laid bare critical shortages in Patriot interceptors, forcing a pressing debate on European air defence commitments at this week's Nato summit in Ankara.
A wave of Russian missiles and drones killed at least 21 people across Ukraine early on Monday, striking residential blocks in Kyiv just hours before a pivotal Nato summit opens in Turkey. Fifteen people died in the capital and six in the surrounding region, with emergency workers still combing through the rubble of destroyed apartment buildings in the historic Podilskyi district.
The assault exposed a critical vulnerability in Ukraine’s air defences that will dominate the agenda in Ankara. While Ukrainian forces shot down 37 cruise missiles and 326 drones, all 23 ballistic missiles and six hypersonic Zircon missiles launched by Russia reached their targets. The 100% strike rate for ballistic weapons stems directly from a severe shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that allied stockpiles of Patriots are effectively enabling the destruction of civilian infrastructure. "As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings. The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror," the Ukrainian president said. He urged leaders to leave the summit with "strong decisions" on air defences.
The overnight attacks targeted military and energy infrastructure, part of a widening campaign of long-range strikes on critical economic assets. In response, Kyiv struck Russia’s most important refinery in the Omsk region, badly damaging a facility that produces key chemicals needed for Russian refining processes. This hits Moscow at a time of growing domestic fuel shortages, demonstrating Kyiv’s capacity to impair the Russian war economy.
The timing of the barrage is intricately linked to the diplomatic manoeuvring surrounding the Ankara summit. The Kremlin confirmed that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to speak again "in the near future," likely this week. Trump is planning to meet Zelenskyy on Wednesday in Turkey to make a renewed push to end the war.
On the battlefield, fighting continued for the eastern town of Kostyantynivka, a gateway to key Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region. Moscow claimed to have captured the outpost on Friday, but Zelenskyy dismissed the announcement as a "lie." He noted that "Fighting is also continuing for Kostyantynivka, which Putin has already claimed as his own. But it is obvious that he will never dare to appear there."
