Former US Vice-President Mike Pence declared on Sunday, 23 August that Ukraine is winning its war against Russia, crediting Kyiv's armed forces with fighting Moscow to a stalemate and fundamentally reshaping modern drone warfare. Pence made the remarks to CNN while speaking from inside Ukraine, following a face-to-face meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Pence's Assessment on the Ground

'Ukraine is winning this war,' Pence stated. 'Ukraine's military on the front lines has fought Russia to a stalemate.' He described the resolve of Ukrainian leadership, soldiers, and ordinary citizens as 'palpable,' adding that the determination ran from President Zelensky 'on down' to rank-and-file troops.

Pence had travelled to Ukraine to attend a national prayer breakfast marking 35 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's independence. Thousands of attendees from Ukraine and other countries participated in the gathering, he noted.

Russian Attacks and Missile Threat

Pence's visit came in the immediate aftermath of a Russian 'double-tap' strike that killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 100 others, according to reports. The assault followed major strikes on Kyiv, including attacks on children's schools, a hospital, and a shopping mall that claimed more than a dozen lives.

The former Vice-President warned that Russia had recently begun deploying high-arc ballistic missiles against Ukrainian targets — a development that Ukraine's existing drone-countermeasure capabilities cannot adequately address. He said Kyiv urgently needed sophisticated interceptors to defend against this evolving threat.

Patriot Shortage and the South Korea Option

A shortage of Patriot missile interceptors has complicated Ukraine's air-defence picture. Reports indicate the United States has used approximately half of its Patriot missile supply while defending against Iranian attacks during what Pence referred to as President Donald Trump's war with Iran. When asked whether Ukraine was paying the price for that conflict, Pence said he did not view the situation that way, adding, 'I don't think the Ukrainians do either.'

Pence proposed South Korea as a potential solution to the interceptor gap. He suggested that Seoul — which possesses sophisticated interceptors — could supply them to the United States for deployment in the Middle East or Ukraine, or provide them directly to European allies. 'This might be an opportunity for President Lee to step forward, make those interceptors available to the United States,' Pence said.

Winter Energy Infrastructure Warning

Looking ahead, Pence relayed a direct warning from Zelensky: as winter approaches, Russia is expected to escalate strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. 'He fully expects that, as winter approaches sooner than later, that Putin will start to strike... that energy infrastructure,' Pence said, quoting Zelensky's assessment.

This comes amid a broader pattern of Russian targeting of civilian infrastructure — a tactic that has drawn repeated international condemnation since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, following its earlier occupation and annexation of Crimea in 2014. The conflict has since become Europe's largest armed confrontation since the Second World War, with Ukraine remaining heavily dependent on US and European weapons, ammunition, and financial support.