Zelenskyy Urges Trump And Congress To Send More Patriot PAC-3 Missiles Against Russian Attacks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote to U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress asking for more American-made air defense ammunition to counter intensifying Russian ballistic missile attacks, Kyiv said Wednesday.

“Russian lawmakers have passed a bill to allow trained bank employees to shoot down Ukrainian drones amid an increase in the number of attacks”

Al Jazeera

The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, urged Trump and Congress to supply more Patriot PAC-3 missiles and other air defense systems, warning that deliveries to Ukraine are “no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face.”

Al Jazeera

Zelenskyy said Ukraine cannot yet produce its own anti-missile defense systems and relies “almost exclusively on the United States,” adding that it is “hardly anything more painful to see than Patriot batteries with no missiles loaded.”

The Killeen Daily Herald reported that Ukraine has raised its drone interception rate to more than 90%, while Russia intensified attacks by firing almost 90 missiles as well as hundreds of drones at Kyiv last weekend.

The same report said neither side has made much progress on the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in the more than four-year war that followed Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor.

Russia’s lower house of parliament backed a draft bill to have bank employees join the fight against Ukraine’s long-range drones that strike deep inside Russia, with trained bank staff shooting down the unmanned aircraft.

The Al Jazeera report said the draft legislation passed in its third and final reading in the lower house Duma on Tuesday, according to the state-run TASS news agency, and would see banks across Russia install electronic jamming systems while selected employees shoot down incoming unmanned aircraft.

CNBC

Al Jazeera added that the bill says it is needed to protect Bank of Russia facilities, including those located in the new constituent entities of the Russian Federation, amid an increasing number of sabotage and terrorist attacks.

Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, told Russian media outlet RBK that “Jamming will be used to make it more difficult for [the drones] to target and attack the relevant targets,” and that “we’ll also use means to shoot down these drones, thereby protecting the relevant targets.”

The plan must still be approved by the upper house Federation Council and signed by President Vladimir Putin before coming into force, Al Jazeera said.

The Killeen Daily Herald linked the latest moves to a recent escalation in aerial attacks by both sides, noting that Ukraine pounded Russian targets especially oil facilities and manufacturing plants with domestically produced drones.

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Financial Times

It said Russian lawmakers’ steps came as Russia fired almost 90 missiles as well as hundreds of drones at Kyiv last weekend in an effort to overwhelm air defenses, while Ukraine’s domestically produced drones and specialists helped countries in the Middle East strengthen air defenses.

In parallel, the Al Jazeera report said Russia’s plan would integrate banks into air defenses because banks are in almost every town, and it could expand Russia’s cover as Russian authorities encourage businesses to contribute to protective measures.

The Al Jazeera account also said the bill deviates from Putin’s efforts to shield Russians from feeling the consequences of the February 2022 invasion on their daily lives, while the Killeen Daily Herald reported that almost half a million Russian soldiers have now been killed since the conflict began.

With Ukraine seeking more Patriot PAC-3 missiles and other air defense systems and Russia turning to bank-based jamming and drone-shooting, both sides’ air-defense struggle is framed in the sources as a continuing pressure point across the war’s front line and beyond.