"We condemn these actions by North Korea and view them together with the ballistic rocket launch carried out earlier (in December) as a violation of the corresponding UN Security Council resolution," the ministry source said.

Moscow used its vote on the UN Security Council last month to support a resolution that tightened sanctions against Pyongyang in response to its December rocket launch.

North Korea confirmed on Tuesday it had successfully conducted a third nuclear test, saying it used a miniaturised device that had a greater explosive force than previous tests. North Korea carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.