Russia has a limited supply of such missiles and has never sent so many toward Ukraine in a single attack. Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, claimed in November that Russia had used 16 Kinzhal missiles over the course of the war and retained stocks of 42 missiles after replacing those it had fired.
Ukrainian officials have pleaded for their Western supporters, including the United States, to share stronger air defense systems, including the Patriot system, to help stop attacks that are undetectable with their existing hardware.