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Twelve Pacific Fleet mines blew up at an arsenal in a dense forest ravine in the village of Rybachy about 10 km from downtown Vladivostok recently.

No one was injured in the explosion near the village of Rybachy, but debris from the blast at 4:35 p.m. Nov. 7 ignited a storage facility for military parts and damaged a pumping facility at the site. Another 53 mines stored nearby did not explode, fleet experts said.

Witnesses said the blasts rocked the neighborhood along Sakhalinskaya and Neybuta streets. Experts at the scene said they were not sure if the mines spontaneously detonated, or were intentionally set off.

A special commission including experts from the Federal Security Bureau and the Pacific Fleet’s counter intelligence officers is investigating blast.

Before the explosion, the ravine was guarded by three armed women hired by the unit, as is a common practice at such arsenals. One of them passed the pit where the mines lay 15 minutes before the explosion. She said didn’t see anything suspicious.

Two days after the blasts, other media reported, a caller claiming to represent the Revolutionary Military Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federation of Socialistic Republics and Other Socialist Countries said that group had carried out the bombing. The organization was previously unheard of in Primorye, and it is unknown why they would blow up mines in an isolated ammo dump. The explosion coincided with the 80th anniversary of the Revolution.

Spokespersons for the FSB and the Krai Internal Affairs Department said they were unaware of the report.

The explosives were state-of-the-art mines used by the Pacific Fleet. Each weapon contains about 100 kilograms of explosives and is stored in metal containers weighing a ton.

According to regulations, detonators and the mines are supposed to be kept in concrete shelters for protection in case of nuclear weapons and blows from an enemy.

However, because of the fleet’s poverty, the mines were laid out in an open space.