Moscow - Russia's Defence Ministry on Monday confirmed that North Korea had conducted a subterranean nuclear test. The nuclear explosion had a strength of between 10 and 20 kilotons, Defence Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said, according to the Interfax news agency.
The detonation was registered in an area some 80 kilometres north- west of the city of Kilchu.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was in Lebanon on Monday expressed concern over the developments.
The Defence Ministry had earlier said information on the nuclear test was to be analysed and had to undergo checks and counterchecks before any conclusions could be reached.
Russian seismologists detected an earthquake in North Korean territory at a depth of about 10 kilometres. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude as equivalent to a 4.7 earthquake, which occurred at 0054 GMT at a location 380 kilometres north-east of Pyongyang, near the site of North Korea's first nuclear test in October 2006.
North Korea announced it "successfully" conducted a nuclear test, following up on earlier threats. Russia is part of presently stalled international talks, also involving China, the United States, Japan and South Korea, aimed at halting Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
