MOSCOW, December 6./TASS/. Russia has notified the United States half an hour before the test launch of its newest Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile, but Washington did not take it for something "dangerous," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson.
"We have a channel which is automatically engaged when a ballistic missile launch is taking place. As for this Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile, the system sent the message to the United States 30 minutes in advance. They knew that this was the case and that they didn't mistake it for something bigger and really dangerous," Lavrov said.
The top Russian diplomat pointed out that "it was a test launch."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on November 21 that the United States and its NATO allies had earlier announced that they would authorize Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons to hit inside Russia, after which American and British missiles struck Russian military facilities in the Kursk and Bryansk regions. He said that Russia responded to those attacks by firing Russia's newest Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile with a non-nuclear warhead at a Ukrainian defense industry facility, the Yuzhmash plant in Dnepr (formerly Dnepropetrovsk). The Russian leader emphasized that the West's provocative policies could have dire consequences if they further escalate the conflict.