The decisive phase of Russia’s full-scale invasion has shifted from land and sea to the skies, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, arguing that Ukraine’s ability to win the air war – backed by stronger Western air defenses – will determine the war’s outcome.In an interview with the Financial Times (FT) published Monday, July 6, hours after another massive Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv, Zelensky said Ukraine had already denied Russia victory on the ground and pushed much of its Black Sea Fleet away from the western Black Sea, leaving control of the air as the war’s defining battlefield.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“Today I believe victory in this war belongs to whoever is smarter,” Zelensky said. “If you stop the enemy on the battlefield, if you stop the war on land, and if you deny him dominance at sea – as we did with our naval drones, driving the Russian fleet away – then the next battlefield becomes the sky.”“In that contest it matters far less whose territory is larger,” he added. “We have moved into the air domain. And in the air, we are already competitive.”Despite Ukraine’s growing long-range strike capabilities, Zelensky identified one critical weakness.“There remains only one unknown,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is anti-ballistic defense. That is the major weakness [for Ukraine] in this equation.”He said Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles have sometimes arrived “literally the day before a massive attack.” Speaking ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, Zelensky said he would urge allies not only to provide more Patriots but also to help Ukraine develop its own anti-ballistic missile capabilities.