The Russian Defence Ministry says a sailor who shot dead eight colleagues before barricading himself inside a submarine, committed suicide and was not killed by security services as earlier reported.

It said the nineteen-year-old sailor killed himself as security forces stormed the vessel; attempts to persuade him to surrender had failed.

The incident at Murmansk in northern Russia began on Thursday night when the sailor killed a sentry, and stole his rifle. (At one point he threatened to blow up the nuclear-powered submarine, although officials doubted his ability to do so and said there were no nuclear weapons on board.)