The United States was properly notified ahead of Russia’s intercontinental ballistic missile test, which took place on Wednesday, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
Russia’s military fired the missile from a silo launcher at 3:12 p.m. local time at the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome. The facility is located in the Arkhangelsk region of northern Russia toward the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east, according to CNN.
“Russia properly notified the United States under its new START treaty obligations [of] a plan to test this ICBM,” Kirby told reporters on Wednesday afternoon. “Such testing is routine. And it was not a surprise, not deemed the test to be a threat to the United States or its allies.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned following the test, “This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats, and make those who, in the heat of aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country think twice.”
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A senior U.S. defense official called Putin’s rhetoric “unhelpful,” saying it was not the type of language “that we would expect from a responsible nuclear power, especially in the current environment.”
The test came amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, which commenced on Feb. 24. In the nearly eight weeks since the military operations began, Russian forces have failed to accomplish most of their main goals, including capturing the capital of Kyiv, and have engaged in a brutal campaign that has included frequent attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian leaders, and those across the globe, have accused Russian forces of war crimes.
The Pentagon and the Biden administration have repeatedly sought to ensure their actions are not misconstrued by the Russians as escalatory. The Defense Department canceled its own ICBM test weeks ago after it was postponed.
“In an effort to demonstrate that we have no intention of engaging in any actions that could be misunderstood or misconstrued, the secretary of defense has directed our Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test launch, scheduled for this week, to be postponed,” Kirby explained on March 2, the day he announced the postponement of the test.
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Ann Stefanek, a spokeswoman for the Air Force, told the Washington Examiner at the time it was canceled, “The department is confident in the readiness of the strategic forces of the United States.”
