Ukraine runs out of Patriot interceptors as Zelensky resumes refinery strikes

Interceptor shortage

Citing a source familiar with the situation, CNN reports that Ukraine has run out of interceptor missiles for the US-made Patriot air defence system, leaving it more exposed to Russian ballistic missiles. The source told CNN that almost all ballistic missiles in the latest attack went unintercepted because of a lack of interceptors. Patriot interceptors are among the few weapons able to shoot down a ballistic missile, and they are expensive and available only in limited quantities worldwide, with other countries also seeking them. Zelensky has warned for months that Ukraine was running low. In mid-August, Ukrainian officials told CNN the stocks were nearly gone, and Zelensky said he had only a tenth of the interceptors he urgently needed. In September he announced a US licence to produce Patriot missiles, but Trump did not confirm it, and according to CNN the licence never materialised.

Overnight strikes on the energy grid

According to AGI, Russian missiles hit three power plants in Kyiv and targeted energy infrastructure in Kharkiv during the night of 13-14 October. Four people were killed and 25 injured in the capital. Separately, the Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenergo reported widespread outages after fresh Russian strikes on energy facilities, leaving parts of Kyiv and the surrounding region without power. Damage to plants also reduced water pressure in some districts of the capital, and explosions and fires were reported in several areas of the city. Moscow continues to bombard Ukrainian energy infrastructure, while Washington presses Kyiv to stop attacking Russian oil facilities.

Refinery strikes and the Trump-Musk exchange

Zelensky told the Financial Times that the ban on strikes was lifted and that Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian refineries, ending an energy truce that Trump had announced and that Ukraine had respected for only a few days. Moscow reported a Ukrainian raid on the Rosneft refinery in Ryazan, which covers almost 5% of Russian production capacity, and said six Su-34M bombers were shot down at the Borisoglebsk base in the Voronezh region. Trump, focused on the effect of fuel prices on Republicans ahead of the midterms, publicly urged Zelensky to step aside. Elon Musk said the bloodshed would continue and that Zelensky should leave, and he confirmed limits on Starshield, the military version of Starlink, placing the decision with Washington because the US government owns and controls the systems. Zelensky replied that the restrictions were a question of will rather than a technical problem, and accused Trump of an instinctive affinity for autocratic regimes.

Allies and operational fallout

After meeting Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that France and its allies would stay beside the Ukrainian people and that Ukraine should be provided collectively with all the means needed to defend itself and protect infrastructure and civilians. La Stampa reports that the United Kingdom is preparing to send new long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine before winter. Zelensky has said that supplying more Patriot interceptors is the minimum condition for accepting a halt to the strikes. Starlink terminals on the move were reactivated only up to about 160 km/h (100 mph), too slow for fast interception missions and medium-range drone raids. In the Black Sea, two tankers were hit by drones and caught fire, and Romania said the Russian drones struck them in its airspace. NATO is due to discuss the situation in the region next week.