Mystery Blasts Rock Russia’s Pacific Waters Days After Nuclear Sub Fired Missile Salvo

Explosions were reported in Russian waters in Peter the Great Bay near Volchanets in Primorsky Krai on August 26, with witnesses recording a column of smoke rising from the sea in an area associated with operations of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, according to monitoring channel Supernova+ on August 26.

Residents of Volchanets captured footage showing smoke over the water following the reported blasts.

The exact cause of the incident remains unknown, and neither the Russian government nor the Pacific Fleet has publicly commented on what happened or whether any military equipment was involved.

The explosions came less than a week after Russia’s Pacific Fleet conducted major live-fire exercises involving some of its most heavily armed naval assets.

During the August 20 drills, the Varyag guided-missile cruiser, the nuclear-powered submarine Omsk and a Bastion coastal missile system carried out missile launches against simulated maritime targets.

The Omsk is a Russian K-186 nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine belonging to the Project 949A Antey class, known to NATO as the Oscar II class. It has served with Russia’s Pacific Fleet submarine forces since 1994.

During the recent exercise, Omsk remained in its original weapons configuration and conducted a salvo launch of P-700 Granit heavy anti-ship cruise missiles against a maritime target approximately 300 kilometers away.

The submarine was designed around 24 launchers for the massive Soviet-era Granit missile.

A deep modernization concept known as Project 949AM would replace those launchers with universal systems capable of carrying as many as 72 Kalibr, Oniks, or Zircon missiles, dramatically expanding the number and variety of weapons an upgraded submarine could deploy.

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Defense Tech

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Omsk is also equipped with six forward torpedo tubes, including four 533-mm tubes and two larger 650-mm tubes.

As of August 2026, Russia retains six Project 949A submarines on its fleet lists, although their operational condition and modernization status vary.

Previously, Russia has carried out rare missile drills involving naval vessels and a ground-based launcher near the disputed southern Kuril Islands, adding to already heightened tensions with Japan.

Russia’s Pacific Fleet said missiles were launched from a nuclear-powered submarine, a missile cruiser, and a Bastion coastal defense system operating in the area of the southern Kurils. The fleet did not specify when the exercises took place.

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