On September 16, the Ukrainian military intelligence department acknowledged responsibility for a series of explosions in Russian cities in the Far East, where the Russian Pacific Fleet is located.
The Russian side called these explosions gas explosions.
But it can be seen that this is similar to the explanation of the 2022 North Stream pipeline explosion, more like an excuse for rushing.In any case, a few hours later, the Ukrainian military intelligence department admitted that it was a long-range retaliation operation they planned, aimed directly at the Russian 155 Brigade 47 Independence Camp stationed in Shenzhen.
To say the most surprising of the attack is that the Ukrainian army was able to fire the war from the Black Sea coast of Europe to the Russian Far East, 6,000 kilometers away. It is not a normal city close to the Russian border, it is located in the Russian Far East coast, more than 6,600 kilometers from the direct line of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, and in the middle is also separated from the vast Russian heartland and several time zones.
Such a distance is a great test for any country’s military action, let alone for Ukraine, which has long been at war deficits.
The Ukrainian side has clearly stated that the operation was carried out against the Russian 155-brigade's 47th Independent Camp, which is not an unnamed member of the Russian-Ukrainian war - they not only participated in the siege of Mariupol in 2022 and turned the coastal city into a ruin, but are also accused of creating a world-shocking Bush disaster near Kiev.
The Ukrainian intelligence department obviously did enough homework. They found out the movement of this unit being transferred to Vladivostok after the war, and then carefully planned this "transnational pursuit of murderers". From a tactical perspective, being able to accurately lock the target position and avoid Russia's layers of defense network to carry out strikes shows that Ukraine's intelligence gathering capabilities are no longer what they used to be. Either they have developed a reliable intelligence network within Russia, or they have received precise intelligence support from external forces, or both.
What's more crucial is the breakthrough of execution ability. The attack of more than 6,000 kilometers is definitely not a task that can be completed by sending a few people with some explosives. Judging from the known situation on the spot, the attack caused Russian military casualties and accurately hit military targets, which means that Ukraine may have mastered new means of long-range delivery or precision strikes.
In reference to the previous North Stream pipeline explosions, investigators found that Ukrainian agents had hired yachts to carry out destruction operations, and the operation was likely to use a similar "asymmetric tactic" - to approach the target in a hidden way and evacuate quickly after a sudden attack.
In the face of the bombing in Vladivostok, the Russian official response seemed somewhat clumsy. First, it was anxious to characterize it as a "gas explosion", but the images of military helicopters and emergency assembly of security agents taken by the people at the scene were silently refuting this statement.
This attitude of cover-up is forced to relate to the 2022 North Stream pipeline explosion – when Russia also insisted it was an accident, until subsequent investigations gradually pointed to artificial destruction.
Witnesses told the media that the first person to arrive at the scene after the explosion was not firefighters, but a large number of armed military and security agencies, which was clearly not in line with the process of handling ordinary gas explosions.
These details spread rapidly through social media, making Russian official claims increasingly untenable. Today, with the highly developed information dissemination, it has become more and more difficult to control public opinion through a single channel. This traditional crisis response model in Russia is encountering unprecedented challenges.
The explosions not only broke the peace of the Far East, but also released a clear signal to the world that the Russian-Ukrainian war is far from over just months before the attack, in February 2025, the US-Russia was still secretly negotiating a ceasefire, and Trump even confidently said the war could "end in weeks."
But Ukraine demonstrates by practical actions that it will not accept any enforced peace agreement, especially if war criminals have not yet been punished.This “albeit inevitable” gesture means that the confrontation between the two sides will continue.
Ukraine's choice to launch a long-range attack at this point of time has obviously its strategic considerations.On the one hand, it was a direct retaliation against Russia in response to the war crimes committed by Russian troops on Ukrainian territory; on the other hand, it also showed its military capabilities and determination to fight for more international support.
In practical terms, the operation indeed achieved its goal – not only to clear Russia’s face, but also to send a clear message to those Western countries who advocate an end to the war as soon as possible: Ukraine can still fight, and it can hit Russia’s main part. This will undoubtedly affect the attitude of the West towards Ukraine’s aid, and at least in the short term, those countries who are hesitant to continue providing military aid may change their position.
Russia's reaction seems to be in a dilemma. If you admit that you have been attacked by Ukraine, it is tantamount to publicly admitting loopholes in national defense and damaging the image of the country; If you insist that it is an accident, and it is difficult to explain all kinds of abnormal signs at the scene, you will be more passive.
This embarrassing situation reflects Russia’s struggles in the war: both to maintain a strong image and to cope with practical difficulties on the battlefield. What’s worse is that the attack could trigger a chain reaction – if Ukraine could hit the shell, the security of the rest of Russia would also be called into question, which would necessarily disperse the Russian military’s defenses and put more pressure on the front lines.
Although the smoke over Vladivostok has dispersed, its impact is just beginning to appear. Ukraine proved its war capabilities and determination with a bold long-range attack, while Russia exposed more problems in its defense loopholes and public opinion response, and the entire international community was forced to reassess the direction of this war.
This six thousand-kilometre fire of vengeance is likely to make the already ardent war situation even more obsessive, and ultimately to bear the cost of the ordinary people who long for peace.
Reference: Russia's Far East explosion occurred in the same incident, the Russian and Ukrainian two say different