The publication describes the main changes in Soviet foreign policy in the APR and trends in the state of society and power in the Russian Far East during the years of perestroika, and draws a conclusion on the influence of late Soviet reforms on the destruction of socio-political unity. Far Easterners, including party and state leaders, showed an ambiguous reaction to the challenge of perestroika. Their character changed with the manifestation of the multilayered consequences of the reforms. The long-term state program for the development of the Far East developed in 1987 was an attempt by reformers and Gorbachev personally to ease social tension in the region and at the same time strengthen the position of the USSR in the APR. But in terms of its implementation indicators, it turned out to be the worst in Soviet history. The process of maturation of the situation of transition from the state of social stratification of society towards the social split in the region is highlighted.