President Zelenskyy stated that they do not currently have enough air defence systems to cover the targeted areas of Ukraine.
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Russia launched another large-scale drone and missile attack against Ukrainian cities overnight on 22 March.
Targeting Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kryvyi Rih, the strikes were primarily aimed at the energy infrastructure.
Attacks were also reported in Khmelnytskyi, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Sumy, Poltava, and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Patriot and other Western-provided air defence systems can down Russian ballistic missiles, but noted that Ukraine does not currently have enough of these systems to cover other areas of Ukraine.
In its latest assessment, the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine has already had to make difficult decisions regarding the placement of its limited air defence systems:
It added that Ukrainian air defence missile shortages will likely continue to limit Ukraine’s ability to contest air space over occupied Ukraine and threaten the Russian tactical aircraft conducting routine glide bomb strikes.
Russian forces are also expanding their use of tactical aviation, drones, and electronic warfare (EW) systems in Ukraine to prepare for and support the assaults while reportedly conducting artillery fire exceeding Ukrainian artillery fire by a ratio of up to ten to one.