STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
President Trump is backing away from a promise to help Ukraine build its own air defense missiles. The idea was to let Ukrainians build their own version of the Patriot missile. Ukraine's president says his country needs more defenses now, and as if to emphasize that, Ukraine's capital faced Russian attack over the weekend. NPR's Greg Myre has more from there. Hi there, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.
INSKEEP: What was it like to be in Kyiv over the weekend?
MYRE: Yeah. These airstrikes came in three separate waves early Saturday, just after 1, 2 and 3 a.m. We heard the air sirens, followed by loud explosions. Seven parts of the city were hit, nine people killed, more than 30 injured. We went to an apartment building that was hit. The building was charred and pocked with shrapnel, shattered glass everywhere. We spoke with one resident, Ivan Herinevich (ph), who's 24.
IVAN HERINEVICH: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MYRE: So he said there wasn't enough time to reach the shelter. They had to take cover in a bathroom. The apartment windows were blown out. Lots of stuff was broken. But no one in his family was hurt.
INSKEEP: Wow. Lucky there. Other people less fortunate, of course. What makes it hard for the Ukrainian missile defenses to keep up?
MYRE: Yeah. So there's a couple reasons here. Russia is now making and firing more ballistic and hypersonic missiles, and Ukraine is rapidly running out of Patriots to intercept them. Now, Saturday's attack was particularly bad. Russia unleashed 27 ballistic missiles, and Ukraine only shot down one. And this is, according to the air force and President Zelenskyy.
Ukraine was shooting down the majority of the ballistic missiles the past couple of years, but now it's having nights like this where almost all Russian missiles are getting through. Zelenskyy is calling on countries with Patriot missiles to send some to Ukraine. Nearly 20 countries have them. He said they shouldn't be stockpiled for, quote, "hypothetical scenarios," but used here and now to contain and stop the Russian war.
INSKEEP: Of course, the Patriot missile is an American-developed weapon, and Zelenskyy met President Trump last week. Seemed like a positive meeting for a minute, and then Trump walked some of it back.
MYRE: Yeah, Steve. There's really two separate issues here. One is Ukraine's urgent need for missiles, and publicly, at least, no country is pledging a fresh supply, and the U.S. stockpile has shrunk dramatically due to the Iran war. And then the second issue, as you noted, is Trump told Zelenskyy last month the U.S. would give Ukraine a license to build its own. But Trump has already retreated, saying Friday that he had reservations and hadn't made a final decision. Even if Ukraine does get a license, it would likely take a couple years before it could make its own missiles.
INSKEEP: All right, we'll keep following that. And also following up on this, there was an explosion at a Moscow restaurant over the weekend. What happened?
MYRE: Yeah. A woman was carrying a homemade bomb, and it exploded at the entrance of a popular Italian restaurant near the city center of Moscow. At least five people were killed and more than 20 injured. The restaurant was reserved for the 55th birthday party of a prominent Russian general and many other top military figures who were all also there. The general has been linked to atrocities in Ukraine in 2022, so there's speculation the bombing is linked to the Ukraine war, but nothing official so far.
INSKEEP: NPR's Greg Myre is in Kyiv. Greg, thanks as always for your reporting.
MYRE: Sure thing, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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