According to multiple Ukrainian and Western officials, results from
The Patriots can track and intercept Russian missiles, including the hypersonic Kinzhal, which Putin has boasted was unstoppable. Kyiv uses them to protect critical infrastructure, including the country’s energy grid.Earlier this month, Zelenskyy asked to buy 10 Patriots, a request Trump dismissed. “You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,” he said, a day after a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy killed 35 people.
France and Italy have given Ukraine their Aster SAMP/T air-defense system but the issue is not “quality, it’s quantity,” Barrie said, pointing to the larger U.S. defense industrial base and greater U.S. stockpiles.for his missile strikes and suggested imposing more sanctions on Russia, for Europe it remains a wait-and-see game.The whiplash of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy means nothing is off the cards, experts said.
A worst-case scenario could see a ban on American weapons exports and transfers to Ukraine, which would bar European nations from buying U.S. weapons to give to Kyiv or transferring weapons with American components or software, Barrie said.That could mean countries, including Germany, that have already given American Patriots to Ukraine would be prohibited from doing so. Such a move would seriously hamper Europe’s ability to support Kyiv and mark a fundamental shift in America’s relationship with its allies.
“It’s one thing for the U.S. to cease to be an ally, it is another for the U.S. to be an enemy,” Heisbourg said, noting that such a step could also damage the U.S. defense sector if weapons purchases were perceived to be unusable on Trump’s political order.
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a house damaged by a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)The tally does not include casualties caused by short-range weapons, including mortars, multiple launch rocket systems, S-300 and S-400 ballistic missiles, drone-dropped explosives and aerial glide bombs, which Russia continues to use along the front line and nearby areas.
Ukrainian officials do not provide overall casualty figures nor do they release official figures on how many Ukrainian troops have been killed on the battlefield.Among the deadliest attacks recently was a Russian ballistic missile that struck in the packed center of Sumy in northeast Ukraine on a busy Palm Sunday morning in mid-April. At least 35 people, including two children, were killed and around 120 wounded. Another blasted a playground in Zelenskyy’s hometown, killing 20 people including nine children.
A deadly barrage targeting the capital Kyiv prompted rare criticism from President Donald Trump for the Russian leader.“Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.