FT: Ukraine to plead for missiles as air defence stocks run low

Ukraine will plead for urgent shipments of surface-to-air missiles at a meeting of its Western allies this week, fearful that an acute shortage could allow Russia to launch widespread bombing attacks.

Kyiv will press allies to bolster their dwindling stocks at the so-called Ramstein military coordination group on April 21, according to three officials briefed on the preparations.

Without adequate air defences, western capitals fear a long-planned counter-offensive against occupying Russian troops could falter.

For now, some Western officials remain optimistic, citing Russia’s continuing lack of air superiority and the continued inflow of Western weapons into Ukraine. In addition, the slower pace of Russian missile attacks on national infrastructure has helped maintain Ukrainian air defence stocks.

“We don’t see any danger that Ukraine will lose air superiority,” said one. “Ukraine has enough [air defence] to defend itself . . . [although] everyone is low, we’ve had a year of conflict, and nobody has inexhaustible supplies,” Sir Richard Barrons, former head of the British armed forces, told the FT.

But if missile shortfalls and weak air defences resulted in big gains for Russia on the battlefield, that is likely to lead to renewed demands for Western powers to supply modern fighter jets or impose a no-fly zone, Barrons said. These are two steps that Nato powers have so far rejected.

“There is a very hard choice here: either the west significantly and rapidly ramps up its defence industrial output . . . or the west elects not to do this and runs the risk of Ukraine simply not having the means to fight effectively and therefore be defeated and abandoned,” he added.