In an unprecedented move, Ukraine reportedly used a newly-delivered U.S. Patriot battery to intercept a Russian Kinzhal missile that was traveling almost ten times the speed of sound over the capital, Kyiv. The Ukrainian Air Force commander, Mykola Oleshchuk, said that the missile had been shot down during a nighttime attack on Kyiv earlier this week. "Yes, we shot down the 'unique' Kinzhal," he wrote, adding that it had been launched from a Russian MiG-31K aircraft. This is the first known time the Kinzhal, a type of weapon that's reportedly incredibly hard to shoot down, has been stopped. The incident marks Ukraine's first-ever use of the U.S. defense system.

In December, the United States said it would supply Ukraine with Patriot surface-to-air missiles to help defend it against Moscow's air strikes. The Pentagon confirmed in January that Ukrainian forces would be trained on the system at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The arrival of the Patriots has been much anticipated by Ukrainian officials as they seek to strengthen their air defenses to counteract Russia's arsenal of ballistic and hypersonic missiles. It's worth noting that there's been no independent confirmation of this claim.