Russia has notified the United States that it is testing an intercontinental ballistic missile
Russian test missile/Photo source: Reuters
Russia has notified the United States that it is testing an intercontinental ballistic missile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday, as quoted by the Russian Interfax news agency. “Yes, all notifications about launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and ballistic missiles from submarines are sent as before” to the US, Ryabkov said when asked if Moscow had notified Washington on Tuesday that it would conduct such a test. On March 30, Ryabkov said that Russia, despite suspending New START, would continue to notify the US of its intercontinental and submarine-based ballistic missile launches. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of his country’s participation in the last major nuclear disarmament treaty with the USA, New START.
On that occasion, Putin clarified that Russia does not denounce the pact but only suspends it because of the US and the hostile attitude of Washington, which, according to the Russian head of state, supports Ukraine with weapons and funding. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that Russia had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in the south of the country. The long-range missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar test site in the Astrakhan region, on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The tested warhead had a subsequent impact, as planned, in an area in the allied country of Kazakhstan, the ministry announced, adding that the purpose was to test the “combat capability” of the missile. Separately, Ryabkov also spoke about the alleged secret American documents disclosed online, which refer, among other things, to the conflict in Ukraine, and stated that Moscow believes it is possible that these documents are fakes,” fueling Washington’s disinformation campaign designed to “deceive” Russia, reports AFP. At this stage, “we have no point of view and maybe it’s a ‘fake’, a deliberate intoxication”, Ryabkov reacted. “Given that the USA is an integral part of the conflict (in Ukraine) and that this is actually waging a hybrid war against us, such methods are possible to deceive the enemy, that is, the Russian Federation,” he added. Allegedly classified US documents appeared online late last week, a leak the Pentagon said posed a “very serious risk” to US national security. Among other information, these documents refer in particular to the United States’ doubts about the chances of success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive being prepared. AFP reports that it could not confirm the authenticity of these classified documents.
By Roberto Caseli
