# Ukraine begs 40 countries for emergency Patriot deliveries > On the night of July 1 to 2, 2026, Russia launched one of its most massive attacks against Kyiv since the start - Author: Maxime Marquette - Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co) - Section: Investigation - Published: 2026-07-05 - Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/l-ukraine-supplie-40-pays-de-lui-livrer-des-patriot-d-urgence ## Introduction: a night of hell that changes everything in **Kyiv** ### One of the war's most massive Russian attacks On the night of **July 1 to 2, 2026**, **Russia** launched one of its most massive attacks against **Kyiv** since the start of the war, combining dozens of **ballistic** and cruise missiles with hundreds of drones. The official toll stands at at least **22 dead** in the Ukrainian capital, a figure that illustrates the scale of this overnight strike. Facing this **escalation**, Ukraine's **Defense Ministry** launched an unprecedented urgent appeal to nearly **40 partner countries** to secure an immediate transfer of **Patriot** missiles from their own existing stockpiles. ### Why this investigation was necessary This urgent weapons request did not come out of nowhere: it fits into a continuing Russian military **escalation** that is testing Western solidarity with **Ukraine**. I wanted to understand precisely what Kyiv is asking for, from whom, and why this exact moment marks a critical turning point in the war. This investigation draws on direct Ukrainian sources and recognized international media to establish the facts with the rigor this subject demands. *I believe this night of massive attack on Kyiv should serve as a brutal wake-up call for the entire West: Putin's **Russia** has no intention of slowing its aggression, and our material support must intensify accordingly, not ease off.* ## The Ukrainian defense minister's urgent appeal ### A request sent to nearly **40 countries** Ukraine's **defense minister**, **Mykhailo Fedorov**, personally issued this appeal to nearly **40 partner countries** of **Ukraine**, asking them to immediately transfer Patriot missiles available in their own military stockpiles, rather than wait for the usual production and delivery timelines. This approach, which bypasses standard procurement procedures, reflects the extreme urgency felt in **Kyiv** as Russian ballistic strikes against Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure intensify. ### A promise of future replacement to reassure partners To convince these countries to immediately part with their own defense stockpiles, **Ukraine** has promised to replace them later through deliveries already under contract with Western manufacturers, a guarantee meant to ease the legitimate concerns of countries that might themselves need these **air defense** systems. This replacement promise illustrates the logistical complexity of this kind of emergency transfer, where each donor country must weigh its own security risk before agreeing to part with such valuable defense systems. *I find this Ukrainian strategy both desperate and brilliant: by offering a guaranteed future replacement, **Kyiv** turns a hard-to-refuse request into a proposal almost impossible for its Western allies to decline.* ## The scale of the attack that triggered this appeal ### Twenty-two dead and a city under rubble The Russian attack of July 2 killed at least **22 people** in **Kyiv**, with dozens more wounded and considerable damage to residential and energy infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital. This strike fits into a worrying trend of increasingly massive Russian attacks on Ukrainian urban areas. According to Ukrainian President **Volodymyr Zelensky**, Russia used roughly **70 ballistic missiles** in this single attack, a volume that far exceeds Ukraine's current defensive capacity with its existing stock of air-defense systems. ### **Zelensky's** precise calculation of actual needs Zelensky has been explicit about his country's concrete needs: it would take **at least 140 Patriot missiles** to effectively intercept an attack on the scale of the one that occurred on July 2, a figure that starkly illustrates the gap between **Ukraine's** current defensive capabilities and its real needs given the intensity of Russian bombardment. This precise calculation is not rhetorical exaggeration: it rests on the technical realities of intercepting ballistic missiles, where each **Patriot** battery can neutralize only a limited number of targets before needing to be resupplied with interceptors. *I believe this figure of **140 Patriot missiles** should ring like an alarm bell in every Western capital. This is not a request for comfort — it is a matter of life or death for Ukrainian civilians sleeping under bombs every night.* ## The delivery mechanisms already in place ### The **NATO**-coordinated PURL program Ukraine already benefits from the **PURL** mechanism, the priority list of Ukrainian needs coordinated by **NATO**, which organizes contributions from several member countries to meet Kyiv's most urgent military needs, including **air-defense** systems like the Patriot. This multilateral mechanism allows the financial and logistical burden to be shared among several Western allies, rather than placing the entire effort on a single donor country, an approach that strengthens the Atlantic Alliance's collective **solidarity** against Russian aggression. ### The American **JUMPSTART** program for interceptors At the same time, the American **JUMPSTART** program specifically aims to accelerate the production and delivery of **PAC-3** **interceptor** missiles, compatible with the Patriot systems already deployed in Ukraine, an initiative that could close part of the current shortfall in available interceptors. These two mechanisms, PURL and JUMPSTART, illustrate the structural Western effort to support **Ukraine** beyond one-off donations, building a more durable and predictable supply chain for years to come. *I welcome these structured mechanisms like **PURL** and JUMPSTART, which show that the West is no longer merely reacting to emergencies, but is finally building a durable military response to a war that keeps dragging on.* ## German and European contributions to reinforcement ### German contracts for hundreds of **Patriots** **Germany** has backed contracts for hundreds of **PAC-2 Patriot** missiles destined for **Ukraine**, a commitment that illustrates Berlin's growing role in Western military support for Kyiv, alongside the United States, traditionally at the forefront of this support. This German support comes on top of roughly **100 additional Patriots** financed by a **one-billion-euro loan** backed by the **European Union**, demonstrating significant European financial mobilization to meet Ukraine's urgent air-defense needs. ### European partners transfer their own stockpiles for the first time A notable feature of this new phase: several European partners have reportedly agreed, for the first time this year, to directly transfer **Patriot** missiles from their own national military stockpiles, rather than simply financing future purchases from American manufacturers. This shift in approach represents a significant step forward in European commitment, since it involves an immediate sacrifice of national defense capabilities for the benefit of **Ukraine**, a gesture that is politically harder than a simple deferred financial pledge. *I see this European gesture of directly transferring their own stockpiles as a strong political signal: Europe is finally showing it is willing to take on real risk, not just write checks from the safety of its own borders.* ## Ukraine's ambition to produce its own **Patriots** ### **Zelensky** pushes for a local production license President **Zelensky** said, during his evening address on July 2, that the most effective long-term solution would be to obtain a license allowing **Ukraine** to produce its own Patriot missiles, rather than remain indefinitely dependent on deliveries and transfers from third countries. This ambition, if realized, would fundamentally transform Ukraine's current dynamic of dependence on its Western suppliers, giving it strategic production autonomy for its long-term **air defense**. ### The mentioned role of **Donald Trump** in this initiative According to Zelensky, U.S. President **Donald Trump** reportedly expressed, during the **G7** summit on **June 21, 2026**, his intention to ask American defense companies to grant production licenses to Ukraine, an initiative that deserves credit as a concrete step toward strengthening Ukrainian military autonomy. This firm posture from the Trump administration on the Ukrainian military file illustrates well the necessary distinction between its controversial domestic record and its resolutely favorable positions on strengthening **Western** defense against Russia. *I want to honestly credit Trump on this specific point: if this production-license initiative materializes, it would be a major strategic gesture that would durably strengthen **Ukraine's** ability to defend itself, without depending forever on Western generosity.* ## Ukrainian technical progress in interception ### Doubled effectiveness against **Iskander** missiles According to information reported by several Ukrainian sources, **Kyiv's** army has reportedly managed to **double the effectiveness** of its Patriot systems against Russian **Iskander** missiles with maneuvering trajectories, thanks to the rigorous application of the **After Action Review** method standardized by NATO to continuously analyze and improve combat performance. This significant technical improvement demonstrates Ukrainian forces' capacity for rapid adaptation to the constant evolution of Russian tactics, a crucial factor in a **war** where each side is continually trying to work around the other's defenses. ### **Zelensky's** criticism of past delivery delays Zelensky did not mince words about past delays in **Western** deliveries, saying that if Ukraine's partners had delivered what they promised on time, more homes — and more importantly, more human lives — could likely have been saved during previous Russian attacks. This direct criticism, though politically delicate toward essential allies, illustrates the legitimate frustration of a leader facing regular deadly bombardment while Western bureaucratic weapons-delivery processes sometimes take months. *I understand **Zelensky's** frustration, but I also think this criticism should serve as a lesson rather than sterile reproach: the West must drastically speed up its weapons-delivery processes, because every day of delay translates literally into lost Ukrainian civilian lives.* ## What this crisis reveals about **Western** defense production ### A defense industry still undersized This urgent request exposes an uncomfortable industrial reality for the West: despite more than three years of large-scale war in **Ukraine**, Western production capacity for **Patriot** missiles and their **interceptors** remains insufficient to meet both Ukrainian needs and the restocking requirements of donor countries' own national stockpiles. This structural shortfall partly explains why **Ukraine** must turn to emergency transfers from existing stockpiles rather than rely solely on new production, which is still too slow to match the current intensity of Russian bombardment. ### The urgent need for massive investment in the defense industrial base Several Western defense analysts have argued for months for massive, accelerated investment in the Western defense industrial base, to durably resolve this bottleneck that limits the West's ability to simultaneously support Ukraine and maintain its own deterrent posture against **Russia**. I believe this **Patriot** shortage should serve as a catalyst to accelerate these industrial investments, rather than settling for temporary fixes that merely push the structural problem down the road to the next Russian escalation. *I believe this shortage reveals an uncomfortable truth: the West has spent years underestimating how long this **war** could last. It is time to build a defense industrial capacity equal to the real, enduring Russian threat.* ## Conclusion: **Western** solidarity tested by urgency ### What to take away from this urgent request This Ukrainian appeal to nearly **40 countries** for emergency Patriot missiles illustrates both the severity of the current Russian military **escalation** and the growing sophistication of Ukraine's diplomatic and military strategy to mobilize broad, coordinated Western support. The combination of the **PURL** and JUMPSTART mechanisms, German and European contributions, and Ukraine's ambition to locally produce its own defense systems, sketches out a long-term resilience strategy that goes beyond mere immediate crisis management. ### A decisive test for **Western** unity This urgent request constitutes a decisive test for Western **solidarity** against Russia: the speed and scale of the response from the 40 countries approached will reveal a great deal about the Atlantic Alliance's real determination to support Ukraine in this critical and particularly deadly phase of the war. The West must respond with the same urgency expressed by **Kyiv**, because every additional delay in delivering these air-defense systems directly translates into more Ukrainian civilian lives lost under Russian bombardment. *I close this investigation with a simple conviction: defending Kyiv is defending the entire West. Every **Patriot** delivered to Ukraine today is a direct investment in our own collective security tomorrow.* **By Maxime Marquette, columnist** ## Columnist's transparency note ### Editorial stance I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies. I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events. ### Method and sources This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here. **Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies. **Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations. When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**. ### Nature of the analysis The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted. My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors. This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text. ## Sources ### Primary sources - Kyiv Independent, Ukraine's defense minister asks nearly 40 countries to urgently transfer Patriot missiles — July 2, 2026 - RBC Ukraine, Ukraine urgently requests Patriot missiles — July 2, 2026 ### Secondary sources - UNN, Fedorov called on nearly 40 partner countries to urgently transfer Patriot missiles — July 2026 - Censor.NET, Ukraine seeks US approval for Patriot production — July 2026 - NATO, official page on support for Ukraine and the PURL mechanism — 2026 - Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, official statements — 2026 --- Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/l-ukraine-supplie-40-pays-de-lui-livrer-des-patriot-d-urgence