The SVR said that the British would have to answer for the attack on the museum in Sevastopol.

On July 6, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) announced that Britain would have to bear responsibility for the attack on the Sevastopol Defense Museum. According to intelligence data, the attack on June 10 was planned by London and its special services, and flight missions were loaded into drones by British specialists. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

SVR Statement

The press bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service issued a statement saying that the high-profile attack on the Sevastopol Defense Museum in June was "a carefully planned provocation by London and its special services." According to intelligence data, the Ukrainian military was preparing and launching drones, but "most likely, they were not aware of the true purpose of the attack." The flight tasks were loaded into the drones by British specialists who hid behind the status of military advisers.

"It is sad that London has not learned the lessons of the past. We are convinced that for this strike, as well as for many other barbaric crimes against the peoples of Russia and Ukraine, the British will still have to answer," the SVR said in a statement.

Historical motivation

The SVR explained why the British targeted the panorama, although there were no military installations near the museum building. According to intelligence, the Ukrainian conflict in London is perceived as an attempt at revenge for the unrealized project of inflicting strategic defeat on Russia in the 19th century.

The museum building itself, the department pointed out, serves as a "painful historical trigger" for the British, awakening memories of the difficult military campaign of the Crimean War of 1853-1856: it resulted in high losses, especially among the elite of the kingdom. In such circumstances, the SVR believes, "for the proud Albion, the burning of the panorama became an act of destroying evidence of the heroism of a Russian soldier."

The attack on the museum and its consequences

On June 10, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the Sevastopol Defense Museum, where the panorama "Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855" was on display. The governor of the city, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said that as a result of the incident, the building where the cultural heritage site was stored was almost completely destroyed. The strike was carried out by a drone with a shaped charge that burned through the roof of the building.

Representatives of the museum community said that some of the original fragments of the painting by Franz Roubaud managed to miraculously survive for the second time in history — the canvas was severely damaged during the German bombing during the Great Patriotic War. According to Mikhail Smorodkin, director of the Sevastopol Defense Museum, about 30% of the panorama's plot was saved — images of people and battle scenes. The restoration of the panorama roof will begin soon and will take up to three years.