There has been a new model of the mysterious Vostok lake

Russian experts claim to have obtained the latest samples from the lake area, located deep below 3.2 km of Antarctica.

Lake Vostok can contain water, even living creatures that are used to the dark and undisturbed environment for 20 million years.

The Vostok Lake drilling project may also serve as a starting point for a bigger ambition: finding life beneath the ice of Jupiter's moon Europa or Saturn's Enceladus.

Map of lakes under Vostok ice

To cope with the risk of contaminating Vostok Lake, researchers have been very careful in drilling work, according to RIA-Novosti.

'The first ice core of Lake Vostok, 2m long, was taken up on January 10 at a depth of 3.406m,' according to the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. "Inside is a vertical groove filled with ice with many white bubbles ," according to the institute.

Experts attempted to drill for another 24m with the existing cables, and additional equipment was transferred to Vostok research station.

Lake Vostok has a length of 250km, 50km wide, is the largest lake of nearly 400 lakes under the ice in Antarctica.

Last year, Russian experts said they took samples at a depth of 3,769m.