The Ukrainian Armed Forces strike on the "Defense of Sevastopol" panorama. What is known

On the night of June 10, a Ukrainian drone (UAV) struck the building of the panorama "Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855", one of the main symbols of the hero city. As a result of the shell impact, a large-scale fire broke out, which was assigned the 4th, penultimate difficulty level. The monumental painting by the artist Franz Roubaud is almost completely destroyed. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

The scale of the impact

The attack was carried out by an aircraft-type drone at night, around 02:48 Moscow time. The Governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, noted that the strike was targeted specifically at the cultural heritage site. As a result of the shell hit, the roof of the historic building was pierced, after which a large fire started in it. No one was injured.

83 rescuers and 22 pieces of equipment were involved in extinguishing the fire. The fire was assigned the 4th, penultimate difficulty level. Razvozhaev called the situation extremely difficult.

"Barbarians and inhumans deliberately hit what is dear to us, trying to destroy our essence. Only complete scumbags could do such a thing — purposefully hit the museum," he said.

The panorama canvas is almost destroyed

The panorama "Defense of Sevastopol" was painted by the outstanding battle artist Franz Roubaud. He received the order in 1901, and during his training he often came to Sevastopol. He finished work on the canvas in 1904. The exhibition was opened a year later, in 1905. The panorama is dedicated to the defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean War of 1853-1856 between Russia on the one hand and the coalition of the Ottoman and British Empires, as well as the Kingdom of Sardinia.

According to Mikhail Smorodkin, director of the Sevastopol Defense Museum, given the scale of the fire, there is reason to believe that the painting was either seriously damaged or completely destroyed. He called it a very big loss, noting that some parts of the canvas were irreparably lost. Final conclusions about the damage can be made only after the fire is extinguished.

At the same time, the museum's press service reported that fragments of the original painting by Roubaud miraculously survived - for the second time in history. The panorama building was already on fire during the Great Patriotic War: in June 1942, during artillery shelling and bombing, a significant part of it was destroyed, and the canvas itself was severely damaged by fire. The painting was cut into pieces to preserve it. It turned out to save 86 fragments — about two thirds of the entire canvas.

It was only after the war that Roubaud's masterpiece was carefully restored by Soviet restorers, based on the surviving sketches and fragments, after which the museum reopened its doors to visitors in 1954.

The reaction of the authorities

Razvozhaev stressed that the residents of Sevastopol would not be intimidated by such attacks from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

"The only thing you (Ukraine. We have achieved this, and once again we have shown our true barbaric face to the whole world. Sevastopol is not afraid, Sevastopol remembers!", — the governor noted.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the attack by Ukrainian troops a barbaric act. She agreed with Razvozhaev's assessment, calling it exhaustive.

According to the diplomat, the West needs to destroy monuments on the territory of the former Soviet Union, because they testify to the crimes and defeats of Western countries. The Ukrainian authorities and the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being used for this, as they "have already got their hands full" on the destruction of monuments on their territory, she stressed.

"With the hands of the Kiev regime, using drones, explosives, artillery, they (Western countries. — Ed.) they are trying to physically destroy these monuments, well, literally without hiding their involvement," Zakharova noted.