Exclusive: Ukraine reveals its Achilles’ heel to CNN as Patriot missile launchers run dry

By Nick Paton Walsh, Victoria Butenko, Natalie Wright, Daria Tarasova-Markina, CNN

Near Kyiv (CNN) — It is the most sought-after weapon in the world, but sits idle, in a cornfield, its cannisters empty, last fired 10 weeks ago.

The US-made Patriot interceptor is the focus of a global supply crunch as dozens of countries scramble to reinforce their defense systems. It is one of the few weapons that can take down ballistic missiles, in a Gulf torn up by the war with Iran, and especially here, in Ukraine, savaged by Moscow’s near-nightly surge in attacks that made July the deadliest month for civilians since May 2022.

CNN was the first media outlet to be given access to a Patriot on Ukrainian territory so Ukrainian officials could reveal one fact: the country has pretty much run out of interceptors. CNN agreed not to reveal details of the Patriot model or its location.

The 16 tubes of the system that CNN saw show signs of regular use, but its chief engineer in Ukraine, who gave only his first name Dmytro for security reasons, said he had not seen a Patriot launcher fire for six weeks. Ukraine has been reluctant to specify exactly how many interceptors, if any, it has left – President Volodymyr Zelensky says the country needs 5% of the US stockpile to survive the winter, but currently only has 1%.

“This is a really heartbreaking sight when you have equipment but you’re not able to intercept any missile,” said Dmytro, visibly emotional. “Ballistic missiles are flying over your head and you are not able to do anything with it, and behind you, there are civilians.”

The first time he had no interceptors to fire was in December 2025. “It is difficult to describe – strong and bad feelings,” he said. “Like you learn how to walk, but you’re not able to walk. You know how to breathe, but you’re not able to breathe.”

The launcher itself is part of a complex system of radars and control centers, and is remotely operated, with the unit drivers far from the launcher when it fires. Another crew member, Heorhi, who works in the command center, said the judgement on what missile to intercept “comes with experience” and is given by the unit commander. “It’s difficult because you see targets flying in that threaten the civilian population, critical infrastructure, as well as the families of my comrades and my own family.” He described the feeling of launching the interceptor as “something magical.”

The global crisis in the supply of Patriot interceptors was fomented by their liberal use in the Gulf, in March and April, often to counter relatively cheap Iranian drone attacks.

Wealthy Gulf states were thought to have used dozens of the interceptors, and Dmytro said he knew the conflict in the Middle East would ultimately impact Ukraine. “We predicted that we would be in trouble. We were very shocked by how many missiles they launched at the same time … the very missiles that we could use against Russian ballistic missiles,” he said.

Coalition forces used on average 225 interceptors per day in the first four days of the war with Iran, according to the Foreign Policy Research Institute. They noted manufacturer Lockheed Martin made 620 interceptors in 2025, or 1.7 a day, resulting in a 132 to one gap between use and production. In January, the Pentagon entered a seven-year deal to get Lockheed Martin to make 2,000 annually by 2030, by which time the war in Ukraine would be eight years old.

It is unclear how many interceptors Ukraine has been promised by the United States, or the size of the US stockpile of which Zelensky said he had 1%. In an interview with CNN, Zelensky addressed the complex issue of Ukraine building their own, under license from the US and its manufacturers, saying he had offered Raytheon and Lockheed Martin ownership and control of any interceptor manufacturing plant they permit in Ukraine.

“It will be your company,” he recalled that he told the US manufacturers. “It will be our brains, our hands, our engineers. And I will do my best to build the great company … for them. Because I don’t need to sell [the interceptors] to anybody else I need for my country.” He said his focus was on volume of production and that the manufacturers could set the price.

He said in almost five years of the war, he’d become expert in who had what capability. “I know the productions, the facilities, the military and the stocks of mostly of all the countries in Europe and including the United States. Not everything, but a lot.”

On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara in June, Trump offered Ukraine licences to begin manufacturing the interceptors. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin journeyed to Kyiv to meet Zelensky, and shortly afterwards Trump expressed doubts that the licensing would go ahead.

“I want to get it,” said Zelensky. “I think his word is the word of president of the United States. And I hope that I will get it.”

In response to CNN’s interview with Zelensky, a White House official said no decisions had been made or guarantees given over the production of Patriot interceptors and that the security of US technology was paramount.

Asked by CNN if he could build a Patriot battery and interceptor immediately, if he was allowed to ignore intellectual property concerns, Dmytro was downbeat: “No. Definitely not, because this is a very complex procedure, and it requires a lot of knowledge, a lot of technical information.”

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