Zelensky says Russia has up to 700 ballistic missiles in reserve, produces 130–140 per month
Speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Kyiv on October 4, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia holds up to 700 ballistic missiles and several thousand other missiles in reserve, and produces 130–140 ballistic missiles each month. He called on the US, EU and other partners to tighten sanctions on component supply chains and warned Russia is likely to shift toward harder-to-intercept weapons, including jet-powered Shahed-type drones.
Key points
- Zelensky said Russia has up to 700 ballistic missiles in reserve and several thousand missiles of other types.
- According to Ukrainian intelligence cited by Zelensky, Russia produces 130–140 ballistic missiles per month.
- Zelensky made the assessment on October 4 at a joint press conference in Kyiv with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
- He called on the US, EU and other countries to strengthen sanctions to disrupt supply chains for missile components.
- Zelensky said Russia is likely to focus future strikes on harder-to-intercept weapons, including increasing the share of jet/reaction-powered Shahed drones.
- His remarks follow a September 30 overnight strike on Kyiv with ballistic missiles and nearly 190 drones that killed two people in Kyiv and a child in Vyshhorod.
- DTEK said 8,000 families in Kyiv lost power after the September 30 strike; the Ministry of Energy reported outages in five oblasts.
Why it matters
Zelensky's figures give a public, Ukrainian intelligence-based estimate of Russia's ballistic-missile stockpiles and monthly output, shaping expectations of the scale of future strikes against Ukraine. His explicit call for coordinated Western sanctions on component supply chains ties Ukraine's air-defence planning directly to a foreign-policy ask of the US, EU and other partners. His warning that Russia will likely pivot toward harder-to-intercept weapons, including jet-powered Shahed-type drones, signals how Ukraine expects attack profiles to evolve heading into winter.
What happened
On October 4, President Volodymyr Zelensky held a joint press conference in Kyiv with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and used the platform to set out Ukraine's assessment of Russia's missile threat. He said Russia has up to 700 ballistic missiles in reserve, along with several thousand missiles of other types, and is producing 130–140 ballistic missiles per month. He urged the US, the EU and other partner countries to impose stronger sanctions to cut supply chains for missile components. Zelensky also said Ukraine expects Russia to focus future strikes on harder-to-intercept weapons, particularly increasing the share of jet- or reaction-powered Shahed drones. The remarks came in the wake of the September 30 overnight attack on Kyiv — a combined ballistic-missile and drone strike that Zelensky said targeted energy infrastructure, killed two people in the capital and a child in the Kyiv-region city of Vyshhorod, and left 8,000 families in Kyiv without electricity, with the Ministry of Energy reporting outages in five oblasts.
Background
The September 30 strike was the second consecutive night of ballistic-missile attacks on Kyiv, following a September 29 attack. It combined ballistic missiles with nearly 190 strike drones and hit energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the Kyiv region. Zelensky said at the time that energy facilities were the main target. DTEK reported that 8,000 families in Kyiv lost power, and the Ministry of Energy said outages hit five oblasts. Zelensky has also previously said Ukraine and European partners are working on a joint anti-ballistic system called Freyja that could become operational within a year.