The United States has warned Ukraine that it will stop the supply of missiles for Ukraine's Patriot air defence systems in the near future, as reported by The New York Times on January 6.

US-provided Patriot air defence systems have played a crucial role in Ukraine's air defence against Russian attacks. The $2mn-$4mn a pop missiles have effectively shot down all of the ten next-generation Kinzhal hypersonic missiles – Moscow's most advanced missile – that Russia fired at Ukraine in its recent barrage over the New Year’s Eve holidays.

Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted, on introducing the Kinzhal several years ago, that they travel so fast they could evade any air defence system.

Ukraine has become heavily reliant on its air defence, which has reduced the damage and death caused by Russian air strikes and missile attacks, allowing many cities, including Kyiv, to return to some sort of normality. But with US funding in increasing doubt after Western financial and military aid has become snarled in internal wrangling, US military experts warned in December that Ukraine will start running out of ammo for its air defence systems in February or March, exposing cities to attack again.

Major Volodymyr (no first name given for security reasons), the commander of the Patriot battery, told the New Voice of  Ukraine that the system is highly effective. "Patriot is one of the few systems effectively countering ballistic missiles, and ballistic missiles cause the most casualties."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has begun to sound increasingly desperate in recent weeks and repeatedly emphasised the need to maintain and strengthen Ukraine’s air defences. Russia has dramatically stepped up its missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in the last month as the coldest weather of the year sets in. He is also capitalising on the Western reluctance to provide more funds to Ukraine and hoping to overwhelm the defences and deplete Ukraine’s stock of anti-missile ammunition. Russia has fired 500 missiles and drones at targets across the country in the last weeks, according to Zelenskiy.

The White House and Pentagon officials have cautioned that the US will soon face challenges in supplying Ukraine's Patriot batteries with interceptor missiles due to their high cost. A senior US official said last week that the US has already run out of money to help Ukraine. Nato allies are also running low on Patriot missile ammo, having sent much of their stockpile to Ukraine in the last year. Nato last week announced a plan to spend $1bn on replenishing stocks, which would also create a new pool of missiles that could be passed to Ukraine in a pinch.

While Ukraine has received various air defence systems from partners, including portable Stingers, short-range SAM systems and long-range systems like the French SAMP/T and the American-Norwegian NASAMS, the Patriot is uniquely designed to counter ballistic missiles, NV reports.

Major Volodymyr, who underwent training on the Patriot system in the US, highlighted the unexpected success of intercepting the first Russian ballistic Kinzhal missile on May 4, 2023, shortly after returning to Ukraine, reports NV.

Extremely effective, the end of Patriot missile coverage would come as a major blow, as experts say the current coverage of Ukraine's protection by Patriot is already limited.