In the immediate aftermath of Russia’s devastating missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on April 11, Ropcke said that Ukraine has “ran out” of key anti-air munitions.
“As I said weeks ago (and almost no one believed me): Ukraine ran out of Patriot and Iris-T missiles,” he wrote.
“Also, most other stocks of air defense means are depleted or destroyed.”
The journalist later clarified that Ukraine has nearly run out of the specified interceptors.
“To clarify, I would rather not say, Ukraine has ZERO Patriot PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles,” Ropcke said hours later.
“A source told me the alleged exact current number two weeks ago. I won't reveal it, of course. But the number was so small, it must be close to nothing now.”
He noted that as U.S. military aid to Ukraine has stalled, Western countries have ample reserves of Patriot launchers and interceptor missiles.
“This, while we have hundreds of systems and thousands of missiles in our depots,” Ropcke added.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian government and military officials have repeatedly said that Kyiv’s most pressing need is for additional air defense equipment, as Russia has massively escalated its air strikes on Ukraine’s power grid.