"It's Russian Friends": Blinken's speech interrupted an alarm test signal (video)

The US Secretary of State was embarrassed by a sudden signal, but advice is that the national warning system is working. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken joked about "Russian friends" after his speech was interrupted by a test alarm. It happened on October 4 at Texas University in Austin. The incident occurred during Blinken's speech dedicated to current circumstances in Ukraine.

At the moment when the official spoke of the Russian invasion, the phones of the audience received an emergency notification. "It can be Russian friends," Blinken joked when the alert stopped. The official also expressed joy due to the fact that the national warning system is working. "I am glad that the system is working and I hope we will never use it for real," he said.

Earlier, the US Federal Agency for Emergency Situations (FEMA) warned Americans that a nationwide inspection of emergency alert systems will be held in the country. The check consisted of two stages. As part of the first of them, emergency notifications were sent to mobile phones. At the same time, the reports stated that this testing of the system does not need to take any action. The second stage included broadcasting on radio and television a similar message.