June 3, 2026

We carefully analyzed all press releases issued by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) throughout May.

The total number of missiles and UAVs launched from Iranian territory against the United States and its allies in May 2026 was:

• Ballistic missiles: 38, of which 20 were intercepted.
• Cruise missiles: 15, of which 8 were intercepted.
• Attack UAVs (Shahed-type): more than 310, of which 249 were intercepted.

In total, Iran launched 363 aerial targets against the United States and its allies in May, of which 277 were destroyed.

During the same period, in May 2026, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were repelling Russian air attacks. According to press releases from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the following were launched against Ukraine:

• 65 ballistic and aeroballistic missiles, including Kh-47M2 Kinzhal and Iskander-M/KN-23 missiles; 13 were destroyed.
• 120 cruise missiles, including Kh-101, Kalibr, Iskander-K and Kh-59/69 missiles; 99 were destroyed.
• 5,100 Shahed-type attack UAVs, of which 5,053 were destroyed.

In May alone, russia attacked Ukraine with 5,285 aerial targets, of which 5,165 were destroyed.

For this analysis, we used official sources from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Air Force. We excluded cases of double-counting of targets intercepted by U.S. forces and their allies, which frequently appear in reports circulating online.

The comparative analysis also excludes 1,316 reconnaissance drones and guided aerial bombs destroyed by Ukraine in May.

Even without those figures, however, the numbers are striking:

363/277 versus 5,285/5,165.

In a single month, Ukraine intercepted 14.5 times more aerial targets than the United States and its allies in the Middle East.

The comparison illustrates the dramatically different scale and intensity of the air war facing Ukraine. While the United States and its allies confronted several hundred Iranian missiles and drones over the course of a month, Ukraine faced more than five thousand aerial targets in the same period.

The figures also demonstrate the extraordinary intensity of Russia’s sustained use of drones and missiles against Ukraine and the unprecedented operational burden placed on the Ukrainian air-defense system.

A shocking comparison of ballistic and drone strikes: the U.S.–Iran and Ukraine–russia wars