Why Russia’s strikes on Ukraine are more intense; Germany’s song of the summer episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 4, 2026 · 8 MIN

Why Russia’s strikes on Ukraine are more intense; Germany’s song of the summer

from State of the World from NPR

Ukraine’s defense forces have beaten back many types of Russian attacks during more than four years of war. But recently there has been a glaring weakness in their defenses: from Russian ballistic missiles. Those kinds of attacks are repelled by U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles. Ukraine is desperately short of them and even the U.S. supplies of Patriot missiles are dwindling. We go to Kyiv to hear what the shortage means for Ukraine.And an extremely catchy German song has gone viral in part because its lyrical refrain sounds goofy to ears used to English. We learn about the positive message behind those lyrics.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

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Why Russia’s strikes on Ukraine are more intense; Germany’s song of the summer

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