The surprise move instructed civil defence officials to shift residents to “safe areas” in the country’s far east, according to pro-Kremlin media outlets.
“A verbal order was given to relocate 1,500 people to safe areas,” reported Mash, a social media outlet linked to major news service Life.ru which has close links to the Russian security services.
“The order came from the regional department of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies.”
Russia shares a 24 mile land border with reclusive North Korea.
It was unclear where the 1,500 were moved.
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The civil protection department in Vladivostok was instructed to relocate residents living in the border area with North Korea.
The relocation was later described as a “training exercise”, according to FedPress.ru.
But it appears to have been triggered by the launch of a missile over Japan in the tinderbox region which has led to soaring tension in Asia.
“A relocation scheme is being exercised as part of the training,” said a source.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned that the North Korean crisis could morph into an armed confrontation and “lead the world to the brink of a catastrophe”.
Yet Russia also maintains political and business ties to Pyongyang.
Officials in Vladivostok also announced that radiation in the border region had not charged following the North Korean launch.
In another unexpected development, Russia’s largest island – Sakhalin – disappeared from the country’s online maps of major IT company Yandex after the latest launch.
The Pacific island, which lies north of Japan, could be vulnerable to a stray launch by trigger-happy North Korea.
Yandex claimed it suffered a “technical” problem.
Additional reporting by Will Stewart