--- title: "Budanov Told La Stampa That Patriot Interceptor Missile Deliveries Will Decline in 2026" description: "Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kirill Budanov told La Stampa that deliveries of interceptor missiles for Patriot in 2026 will be lower than in 2025 and insufficient to counter ballistic strikes. He did not name specific figures." date: 2026-08-25T20:20:11.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/budanov-la-stampa-patriot-interceptor-missiles-2026 tags: [ukraine, patriot-missiles, air-defense, budanov, us-ukraine, la-stampa] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Budanov Told La Stampa That Patriot Interceptor Missile Deliveries Will Decline in 2026 ![Kyrylo Budanov in SBU uniform during a La Stampa interview on reduced Patriot missile supplies in 2026](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/26/budanov-la-stampa-patriot-rakety-pvo-2026/budanov-la-stampa-patriot-rakety-pvo-2026-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - In an interview with La Stampa, Budanov acknowledged a reduction in interceptor missile deliveries for Patriot in 2026 relative to 2025 and their insufficiency. - The official did not name specific figures, citing military secrecy. - Reports on the reasons (negotiations with the US, reduced stockpiles) and quantitative estimates (2.5 times, 5% versus 1%) are not confirmed by the fact-checked sources and are presented as reports by the parties. On August 25, 2026, Kirill Budanov, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, stated in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa that in 2026 the volume of interceptor missile deliveries for Patriot air defense systems will be lower than in 2025. According to him, deliveries are being made on a regular basis, but the available volume is critically insufficient to counter the current scale of ballistic strikes. The official did not provide specific quantitative data, citing military secrecy and a reluctance to disclose operational information. ### Position of the Office of the President The statement was made by the head of the Office of the President, indicating that the issue of air defense provisioning has been elevated to the level of the highest political representation. The interview emphasizes the regularity of deliveries while simultaneously acknowledging their insufficiency relative to the scale of the threats. The official text of the statement contains no assessment of the reasons for the reduction and does not name specific suppliers or volumes. ### Reports of Negotiations with the US Against the backdrop of the statement, a number of publications cite information about a personal meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, at which, according to sources, an emergency allocation of additional interceptors was refused. The reason cited was the reduction of American stockpiles amid the prolonged conflict in the Middle East. These circumstances are not confirmed either in the La Stampa interview or in the fact-checked sources, and are therefore presented as reports by the parties rather than as an established fact. ### Internal Context and Air Defense Production According to Ukrainian sources, the shortage of interceptors is intensifying the domestic political debate over the need to obtain licenses for the joint production of alternative air defense systems with Western partners. The aim of such initiatives, as stated, is to reduce dependence on external supplies. There is no official confirmation of specific programs or timelines in the provided materials. ### Contradictory Data In the official La Stampa interview, Budanov declined to provide any figures, citing military secrecy. At the same time, specific quantitative estimates appear in certain publications — including claims that missile stockpiles have fallen several times compared to 2025 and that there is a discrepancy between the requested and the actually received volume (in the phrasings "5%" and "1%"). These numerical data are not contained in the text of the interview and are not confirmed by the fact-checked sources, and therefore should be regarded as unverified and requiring additional verification. Thus, the confirmed part of the statement is the acknowledgment of a reduction in the volume of interceptor deliveries for Patriot in 2026 relative to 2025 and the admission of their insufficiency. The quantitative details and the circumstances of the negotiations with the American side remain at the level of reports and have not received official confirmation within the framework of this interview. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Budanov* Makes a Heavy Admission About Strikes by the Russian Armed Forces](https://vfokuse.mail.ru/news/69638289-budanov-vystupil-s-tyazhelym-priznaniem-ob-udarah-vs-rossii/) - Контекст: заявления Буданова об ударах по Украине; согласуется с признанием недостаточности ПВО. - [Budanov Makes a Heavy Admission About Strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on Ukraine](https://svpressa.ru/war21/news/529201/) - Контекст: аналогичные заявления по теме ударов и ПВО; количественные оценки в нём не верифицированы. - ["The Black Sea Is Not a Local Issue": Budanov on the Security of Ports and Shipping](https://glavred.info/ukraine/chernoe-more-ne-lokalnyy-vopros-budanov-o-bezopasnosti-portov-i-sudohodstva-10791353.html) - Дополнительный контекст публичных заявлений Буданова; не относится напрямую к теме Patriot. - [Head of Zelenskyy's Office States That Patriot Systems Are Insufficient to Counter Strikes](https://news.mail.ru/politics/72100021/) - Подтверждает заявление Буданова о нехватке перехватчиков Patriot для отражения ударов — ядро новости. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: What exactly did Budanov state in the La Stampa interview? **A:** He stated that in 2026 deliveries of interceptor missiles for Patriot will be lower than in 2025, and that the available volume is insufficient to counter the current ballistic strikes. He did not name specific figures, citing military secrecy. ### Q: Did Budanov name the reasons for the reduction in deliveries? **A:** The reasons are not disclosed in the text of the interview. Reports of negotiations with the US and of reduced American stockpiles are cited in publications as information from the parties and are not confirmed by the fact-checked sources. ### Q: Are the figures on a 2.5-fold reduction in stockpiles and the 5% versus 1% proportion confirmed? **A:** No. These quantitative data are absent from the La Stampa interview and are not confirmed by the fact-checked sources, which is why they are placed in the "Contradictory Data" block of the article as unverified.