• Ukraine shared footage of its aircraft launching Storm Shadow missiles.

• Footage of the powerful, long-range missiles in action is extremely rare.

• Storm Shadows were given to Ukraine by the UK and France (which calls them SCALP missiles).

Ukraine released its first official video of Western Storm Shadow missiles being used in combat.

Ukraine's air force on Sunday shared footage celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Buried in the clip were visuals of the Storm Shadow being launched from a jet, and then flying through the sky.

You can watch the video here:

The video showed one missile with a UK flag and one with French branding, using an alternative name for the missile, SCALP, which is common in France.

Ukrainian outlet Defense Express reported that it was the first-ever video showing Storm Shadows being deployed in live combat.

It said they were shown being fired from an Su-24, one of the jet types Ukraine uses to carry the missiles.

Business Insider couldn't immediately verify those claims, but footage of them in action is very rare.

A 2015 video by the missile's maker, MBDA, shows Storm Shadows in action but doesn't specify whether the footage shows test scenarios or real warfare.

Ukriane's military also called it the first official footage that captures a live launch of the missile.

Storm Shadows are cruise missiles developed jointly by the UK and France.

Both countries have been giving Ukraine the missiles and the UK was the first country to give Ukraine cruise missiles when it gave Kyiv the first Storm Shadows in May 2023.

Ukraine has used them for far-reaching strikes, including an attack where those missiles were seemingly used to hit the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.

The footage in the video by Ukraine's air force appears to show that strike.

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Ukraine receives $3.9 billion grant from US, prime minister says

 Ukraine has received a $3.9 billion grant from the United States via the World Bank, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday.

"This is the first tranche of direct budget support from the United States in 2024. In total, Ukraine will receive $7.8 billion in direct budgetary assistance from the United States this year, which will allow us to confidently pass this financial period," Shmyhal said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian finance ministry, in a separate statement, said the funds would be directed towards wages for teachers, staff of the State Emergency Service and other public employees, as well as assistance for displaced persons, low-income families and people with disabilities.

"The grant will help the Government of Ukraine to reimburse priority social and humanitarian expenditures without increasing the debt burden," Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said in a statement.

The ministry said that since February 2022, direct budget support from the United States had reached almost $27 billion, the largest source of financial assistance to Ukraine. Marchenko said the grant was a part of a large $60 billion package of support for Ukraine.

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