Ukraine intercepted 29 out of 195 Russian ballistic missiles in July as air defense shortages worsen, Defense Ministry says

Ukraine intercepted only 29 of the 195 ballistic missiles Russia launched at the country in July as air defenses faced a critical shortage of interceptor missiles, the Defense Ministry said on Aug. 7.

"Ukrainian air defense operated in July under conditions of a critical shortage of interceptor missiles to counter ballistic terror," the ministry said.

The latest attacks illustrate the growing challenge. Ukrainian forces failed to intercept any of the 24 ballistic missiles or four Zircon anti-ship missiles launched by Russia on Aug. 5, according to the Air Force. Days earlier, on Aug. 1, Ukraine shot down only one of 27 ballistic missiles, citing shortages of air defense interceptors, particularly U.S.-made Patriot systems.

The list of ballistic missiles included in the Defense Ministry's report covered Russian Iskander-M and 48N6DM missiles, as well as North Korean KN-23 missiles. The report also covered Zircon missiles, which Russia has presented as hypersonic cruise missiles, though recent analysis suggests they may be capable of a quasi-ballistic flight path.

In addition to the ballistic missiles intercepted by Ukraine, another 40 failed to reach their targets, the ministry added.

Russia also launched 265 cruise missiles, including Kalibr, Iskander-K, and Kh-101 missiles, of which 187 were intercepted by Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian forces detected 8,653 Russian attack drones over the month and intercepted 5,142, including Shahed-, Gerbera-, and Italmas-type drones, according to the ministry.

In total, Russia launched more than 9,000 attack drones and missiles against Ukraine in July, excluding reconnaissance drones. Ukrainian forces intercepted more than 5,300 of them using aircraft, anti-aircraft missile systems, electronic warfare, unmanned systems, and mobile fire groups, the report read.

Ballistic missiles proved particularly difficult to intercept during July's largest combined attacks. Ukraine downed four of the 28 missiles flying along ballistic trajectories on July 2, none during the July 6 attack, and one during the July 30 attack, the ministry said.

The Defense Ministry said ballistic missiles remained the main challenge for Ukrainian air defenses and that it was working with international partners to obtain additional air defense systems and interceptor missiles.

Ukraine is also seeking Meteor missiles for its Gripen fighter jets to counter Russian aircraft launching guided aerial bombs, the ministry added.