A U.S. fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” over Lake Huron on Sunday on orders from President Biden. It was the fourth such downing in eight days and the latest military strike in an extraordinary chain of events over U.S. airspace.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz tweeted Sunday that he was proud of the airmen FROM THE 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth, Minnesota… which was part of the federal mission to take down the object.

In Ukraine, fierce battles raged outside Bakhmut as Russian forces pushed their advance on the eastern city with heavy shelling and infantry attacks, with at least five civilians killed and as many wounded in action across the war-torn country in the last 24 hours.

Ukraine’s presidential office said the situation in Bakhmut’s northern suburb of Paraskoviivka is “difficult” as Russian forces continued to pummel the area.

The United States Navy and Marine Corps are holding joint exercises in the South China Sea at a time of heightened tensions with Beijing over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.

The 7th Fleet based in Japan said Sunday that the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been conducting “integrated expeditionary strike force operations” in the South China Sea.

Brenda Cabral can be reached at cabr4475@stthomas.edu