80% of Ukraine's territory still not protected from ballistic missiles - Zelenskyy

At present, 80% of Ukraine's territory remains unprotected from ballistic missile attacks due to an acute shortage of appropriate air defense systems. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated this in an interview with the German edition of Tagesschau.

The head of state emphasized that he would not disclose the location of existing Patriot systems, but emphasized their shortage. At the same time, Ukraine is actively cooperating with international partners, including Germany, Norway, the Nordic countries and Canada, to finance new purchases.

"I will not say where our Patriot systems are located. But 80% of the territory of our country does not have such systems against ballistic missiles," he said.

According to the President, even in the absence of direct transfer of equipment, they managed to raise funds for its purchase. He also emphasized the extremely high cost of such technologies, where one system costs up to USD 2 billion, and each missile to it costs from two to three million.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on February 17, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had offered the United States to launch the production of missiles for Patriot air defense systems in Romania or Poland. But Washington refused to grant licenses.

A day earlier, on February 16, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that his country had given Ukraine all available resources of its own missiles for air defense systems.

In October 2025, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine wants to purchase 25 Patriot air defense systems with phased deliveries over several years.