Ukraine has purchased approximately 1,000 Patriot missiles and is still urgently calling on allies to directly provide stocks

The picture shows the US military MIM-104 "Patriot" missile launcher. (DVIDS)

[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Comprehensive Report] Russia continues to bomb Ukraine on a large scale with drones and missiles, and Ukraine is accelerating the replenishment of anti-aircraft ammunition. Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara said on the 8th that Ukraine is contracting to purchase about 1,000 missiles for the US-made "Patriot" air defense system through the assistance of allies and EU loans. However, most of the ammunition must wait until the next few years to be delivered. Therefore, at this stage, it still urgently needs allies to provide support directly from the inventory.

The military news website "Defense News" reported that Hemala pointed out at a meeting of the "Ukrainian Defense Contact Group" that although the purchase of about 1,000 Patriot missiles is progressing, the delivery speed cannot immediately meet the current battlefield demand. Therefore, Kiev is asking Western countries to first release more anti-aircraft missiles from their own inventories.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense later released the contents of the conversation, which showed that one of the exchange conditions proposed by Kiev was to convert battlefield experience into missile performance improvements through relevant contracts signed with Ukraine, in exchange for faster provision of existing inventories by allies.

In addition to anti-aircraft missiles, drones are still another huge funding gap for the Ukrainian army. Hemala said that Ukraine is still short of approximately US$27 billion (approximately NT$849.59 billion) in the supply of drones, showing that even though unmanned systems have become one of the main forces on the battlefield, large-scale mass production and continuous replenishment are still highly dependent on external funds.

Hemala also explained to allies the overall combat plan currently being implemented by the Ukrainian army, as well as the main Russian threats identified by Kiev. He said that the Russian army has not achieved a strategic breakthrough on the approximately 1,200-kilometer front, but Moscow is making up for the lack of significant progress on the ground battlefield by launching continuous air strikes on cities and civilian infrastructure.

Russia also resumed its almost non-stop missile and drone attacks on Ukraine on the 8th, which had been briefly suspended due to the visit of US peace negotiators. Ukrainian officials said at least five people were killed in Kiev, and casualties were also reported in other regions.

NATO Secretary-General Rutte called on all countries to expand assistance at the meeting, emphasizing that allies must allow Ukraine to seize the opportunities currently created on various fronts while also protecting its own airspace.

In response, the UK announced on the 8th that it would invest 10 million pounds (approximately NT$420 million) to improve Ukraine's winter air defense capabilities, including providing "Patriot" missiles. The British Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the UK would also provide Ukraine with anti-aircraft interceptor missiles, large-caliber artillery shells and drones.