The communist nation launched several ballistic missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2, late Tuesday despite a moratorium on missile tests. The Japanese military said at the time that all missiles fell in the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan closer to Russia than to Japan.
"All missiles fell in the Sea of Japan approximately at the 40th parallel," Chief of the General Staff Yury Baluyevsky said addressing members of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament. "This means they were far away from Russian territory."
The 40th parallel passes at about 350 kilometers (220 miles) from the Russian coast.
Responding to concerns that Russia's radar network had failed to detect the launch of missiles by the secretive communist regime, Baluyevsky said "I would not dare to claim that Russia's Armed Forces are not capable of accomplishing their objectives."
