The Pentagon has confirmed that the Ukrainian military downed a Russian missile using the Patriot missile defense system, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on 8 May, CNN reported.
“I can confirm that they did down a Russian missile by employing the Patriot missile defense system,” Ryder said. “As you know that system is part of a broader range of air defense capabilities that the United States and the international community have provided to Ukraine.”
Ryder added that the US and its partners would continue to “rush ground-based air defense capabilities and munitions to help Ukraine control its sovereign skies and help Ukraine defend its citizens from Russia.”
On 6 May, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, confirmed that the Ukrainian military had shot down a Russian Kinzhal missile using the Patriot system. The United States unofficially confirmed this a little later.
Russia calls the Kinzhal a hypersonic missile, but after it was shot down in Ukraine, experts suggested that it is actually a ballistic missile capable of flying faster than sound.
Related:
Historical first: Ukraine confirms shooting down Kinzhal hypersonic missile with Patriot SAM
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