Macron Pledges More Interceptor Missiles to Ukraine After Kryvyi Rih Strike Kills 16

French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday, August 22, that France will speed up deliveries of interceptor missiles to Ukraine after a Russian drone strike on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih killed at least 16 people and wounded 130, including 23 children, according to Ukrainian authorities cited by Euronews.

Kryvyi Rih is President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown. The strike, described by Ukrainian officials as a daylight double wave of drone attacks on Friday, August 21, drew condemnation across Europe. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called it "terror by design," according to Euronews.

Macron said he spoke with Zelensky by phone for nearly two hours on Saturday. "It is crucial to provide Ukraine with all the necessary means to defend its airspace and thwart this aggression," Macron wrote on X, according to RFI. He said Russia, "by systematically targeting civilians, and by choosing intimidation and escalation... is probably seeking to project strength but is above all signalling an admission of weakness."

Zelensky, posting separately, said the call covered Ukraine's air defense needs, funding, and coordination with Washington. "We agreed to accelerate the delivery of the latest French equipment and missiles," Zelensky wrote, according to the Kyiv Independent. "Thank you for confirming your readiness to provide licenses for the production of missiles."

That licensing commitment isn't new. Paris granted Ukraine a license last month to produce ASTER missiles for the SAMP/T air defense system and SCALP cruise missiles, the Kyiv Independent reported. Breitbart's account of that earlier announcement, made at a Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris, also included AASM precision-guided bombs and noted Ukraine's separate agreement to buy 16 Rafale fighter jets, with first deliveries not expected until 2028 or 2029. Saturday's call appears to be Macron reaffirming and accelerating those existing commitments, not announcing a new category of weapon.

Ukraine's Patriot problem

The core issue is that Ukraine is running short on Patriot interceptors, the only system in its arsenal capable of shooting down Russian ballistic missiles, according to Reuters (via Yahoo News). Zelensky said Macron agreed to help lobby other allies who hold Patriot stockpiles to release them.

The newer French-Italian SAMP/T-NG system is meant to be a cheaper alternative, but European diplomats previously told Reuters it wasn't expected to reach Ukraine before spring 2027, and it hasn't been battle-tested against ballistic missiles.

Zelensky also met separately on August 22 with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and former U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg, now at the America First Policy Institute. "For getting through this winter, supplying interceptors for Patriot systems is essential," Zelensky wrote on Telegram, per the Kyiv Independent. "Ukraine is ready to buy them."

The bigger picture: no ceasefire, more strikes both ways

According to the United Nations, cited by RFI, civilian deaths in Ukraine in 2026 have hit their highest level since the war's early months, driven largely by long-range Russian strikes on cities far from the front line. A separate strike on Kyiv killed 15 people on August 20, the day before the Kryvyi Rih attack, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Ukraine hasn't sat still either. Zelensky said Ukrainian forces struck the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery, a logistics hub in Russia's Samara region, and targets in the Black Sea over the past 24 hours, part of what Kyiv calls its long-range campaign to squeeze the Russian economy. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded Saturday by saying Ukraine's strikes on Russian economic targets had opened a "Pandora's box," and vowed Moscow would hit back at Kyiv's "most sensitive economic sectors," according to Reuters.

There's no ceasefire. Both sides are escalating strikes on each other's infrastructure while publicly calling for negotiations that aren't happening.

What comes next

A Coalition of the Willing meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 24, coinciding with Ukraine's Independence Day. Reports diverge slightly on the location: Politico Europe and Kurdistan24 report the meeting will be held in Kyiv, with roughly 10 leaders attending in person and Macron joining by video link alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. RFI's account describes the same three leaders co-chairing without specifying Kyiv as the location. This inconsistency is worth watching as the meeting approaches.

European Council President António Costa is expected to attend in person, according to Politico Europe, which cited Le Monde. Whatever the venue, the agenda is the same: more pressure on Moscow, more hardware for Kyiv, and no sign either side is ready to stop fighting long enough to negotiate.