Zelensky says Ukraine shot down Russian ballistic missiles, thanks Western air-defence aid
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian forces intercepted Russian ballistic missiles and praised air-defence deliveries from the United States, Norway, Germany and France.
In a social-media statement, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Ukrainian air-defence forces have shot down Russian ballistic missiles amid intensified attacks. He thanked the United States and Norway for providing a NASAMS air-defence system and also acknowledged assistance from Germany and France, stressing the importance of ongoing deliveries. Zelensky accused Russia of escalating the war by increasing the use of ballistic rockets, which are especially difficult to intercept.
He added that Ukraine’s defence now also employs jet-propelled drones to counter such threats. The president highlighted recent Russian strikes on data and business centres, residential blocks in Kyiv, an educational facility and a student dormitory in Odessa, as well as hits on two foreign vessels. Nine regions experienced night-time attacks, resulting in damage to energy infrastructure, civilian enterprises and homes.
Why it matters
The claim shows Ukraine’s reliance on Western air-defence aid to counter Russia’s growing missile threat.
How this story developed
- Sep 12 Zelensky denounces EU talks to lift sanctions on Russian oligarchs
- Sep 15 EU Coreper authorized a week‑long postponement of the sanctions expiry.
- Sep 15 EU leaders asked the European Defence Agency to evaluate progress toward a 2030 defence-readiness objective, and the agency’s summary concludes that current national plans fail to address critical shortfalls in air and missile defence, ground combat, naval power, ammunition stocks and unmanned systems. While spending and industrial readiness have improved, the report stresses that these gains have not yet produced deployable, sustainable and interoperable forces, leaving “critical capability gaps” unfilled. The findings will be discussed by EU defence ministers in Brussels before reaching the bloc’s leaders. Concurrently, Russia’s Defence Ministry reported strikes on Kyiv’s “Kyivstar” and “Parkovyi” telecom sites, and Ukrainian officials say attacks on providers such as Pavutyna, Etherlink, Crazy Network, Utels, Cityhost and MiroHost have caused temporary outages for roughly 100,000 households and hampered mobile alert messages. The dual pressure highlights the challenges Europe faces in both conventional and cyber-warfare domains.
- Sep 17 The European Commission will disburse €3.3 billion to Ukraine for missile and drone purchases, announced by Ursula von der Leyen following a call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- Sep 22 EU announced a €3.3 billion release for Ukrainian missile and drone purchases.
- Sep 22 Latvia announced it will not back the proposal to delist Usmanov and Fridman, prompting an emergency cabinet meeting.
- Sep 23 Latvia ultimately abstained in the EU vote, enabling renewal of the wider sanctions package while accepting the delisting of Usmanov and Fridman.
- Sep 28 EU defence ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss the agency’s yearly review.
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