The United States was warned by Russia before Thursday’s missile attack through nuclear risk reduction diplomatic channels, the White House said.

The US has briefed Ukraine and its close allies in recent days to help them prepare for the possible use of an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile that was used to attack the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, the US government said.

Russia likely possesses only a few of the experimental intermediate-range ballistic missiles, the Washington official noted.

Russia’s use of a new weapon is an important message, Ukrainian and Western officials say, as the target inside Ukraine was within range of the conventional weapons Moscow has routinely used throughout the war.

Instead, Russia launched a longer-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads intended primarily for nuclear deterrence. That choice, officials said, signals a warning from Russia aimed at instilling fear in Kiev and its allies.

In recent days, the Ukrainian military has used longer-range US and British missiles to strike Russia after the two countries agreed to Kiev’s request after months of appeals. In response, President Vladimir Putin changed his country’s nuclear doctrine, lowering the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons.

In a speech, Vladimir Putin threatened global conflict after Ukraine struck Russia with long-range missiles and announced that Moscow had tested a new medium-range missile against Ukraine, while warning it could hit countries that allowed Kiev to use their missiles to attack Russia.

Vladimir Putin said the strike against Ukraine was carried out with a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile while declaring that his country “has the right” to strike states whose weapons Ukraine is using to strike Russia. At the same time, he warned that attacks with Western weapons on Russian soil will not change the course of the Russian military operation.

“Russia conducted a test of the hypersonic missile system ‘Oreshnik’ in response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries against Russia. In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine,” Putin stressed.

He added that “in combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested, among others. In this case, with a ballistic missile in hypersonic equipment without nukes.”