Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Ukraine has waited nearly a month for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to sign off on deliveries of air-defense missiles. Russia keeps hitting the country with drones and missiles, according to Newsweek 1. Zelensky said he asked Ukrainian officials to raise the issue with the American side once again 1.
Newsweek said it had asked the Pentagon for comment 1. The Pentagon told Stars and Stripes last week that there had been no change to its policy on intelligence sharing 2.
Why Hegseth's approval matters
The Patriot is a U.S.-made ground-based air-defense system. It is currently the only real option Ukraine has to intercept ballistic missiles, Newsweek reported 1. Each interceptor typically costs several million dollars 1.
Stars and Stripes reported that a shipment bought by Ukraine's allies through NATO's PURL program was awaiting Hegseth's approval. PURL is a program through which allies buy U.S. weapons for Ukraine 2. Zelensky told U.S. lawmakers on Oct. 19 that European countries were waiting for U.S. authorization to send their own Patriot stockpiles 2.
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Hegseth has pushed for Europe to provide most of the aid for Ukraine. Last week he said the U.S. had not changed its stance on aid, but that U.S. stockpiles were a priority 1. That came shortly after The Washington Post reported that Patriot deliveries from third countries were stalled and required his sign-off 1.
The numbers
Zelensky said last week that Kyiv had received only 24 interceptors in the previous three months. Russia recently fired 30 ballistic missiles at Ukraine in a single night 1. He told ABC News that Ukraine needs an average of 350 Patriot interceptors a month, and he has asked European leaders for a "winter package" that includes about 300 Patriot missiles 1.
On Monday, Kyiv's air force said Russia attacked with 140 drones and three missiles overnight. An energy site in the Khmelnytskyi region was damaged 1. Analysts say Moscow hopes to exploit the shortage to target Ukraine's energy system as winter sets in 1.
Bipartisan concern
Two senators organized the Oct. 19 call with Zelensky: Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, and Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican. They issued a joint statement criticizing the delays, degraded satellite communications and disruptions in intelligence sharing 2. The statement referred to "Funding Russia's war machine, disabling Ukraine's satellite communications" 2.
Zelensky also said the U.S. failed to give advance warning of Russian ballistic missile attacks. The U.S. denies cutting off intelligence 12.
What happens next
Three-way talks between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia are scheduled for next month 1. Zelensky has said the U.S. is pressuring Ukraine to negotiate 1. Ukraine is also waiting on deliveries of NASAMS, a shorter-range air-defense system 1.
That matters because the approval rests with one official. U.S. officials are also worried about American stockpiles, since Patriot production is struggling to keep up with demand and the war with Iran has added to it 1. The Pentagon has not said when, or whether, it will approve the shipment. That leaves Hegseth's decision as the open question for a U.S. ally under attack.
The Record
Sources
- Newsweek, “Zelensky Accuses Hegseth of Delaying Patriot Missile Deliveries For Weeks” (2026-10-26). newsweek.com/zelensky-hegseth-delay-patriot-missile-deliveri
- Stars and Stripes, “Zelenskyy says Pentagon holding up Patriot missiles” (2026-10-20). stripes.com/theaters/europe/2026-10-20/zelenskyy-pentagon-pa
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