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Russia notified U.S. ahead of ICBM test, U.S. official says


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States received notification from Russia ahead of its test-fire of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Tuesday, in line with Moscow's commitments under the nuclear arms treaty between the two countries, a U.S. official said.

    The official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said initial notification of Russia's test plans pre-dated Russia's military intervention in Crimea.

    Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces launched an RS-12M Topol missile from the southerly Astrakhan region near the Caspian Sea and the dummy warhead hit its target at a proving ground in Kazakhstan, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Yegorov told state-run news agency RIA.

    (This version of the story was refiled to fix wording in paragraph one.)

    (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Bill Trott)