SEVASTOPOL, June 16. /TASS/. A large volume of water used by firefighters to extinguish a fire at the building housing the Panorama of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855) after a strike by the Ukrainian army worsened the condition of the canvas and 90% of it was lost, the Sevastopol Defense Museum reported on its Max channel.
The museum said that water used to extinguish the fire also contributed to the current condition of the painting. During World War II, the building came under attack in the third assault on Sevastopol, when damage to the city's water supply system left firefighters with only enough water to soak the outer clothing of those entering the burning structure.
According to participants in the rescue operation, flames spreading to the painted sections were beaten back manually. Fragments of Franz Roubaud's canvas were later soiled, torn and soaked during evacuation aboard the Soviet destroyer leader Tashkent.
"The volume of water used to fight the fire affecting the canvas created by Soviet artists, which had been exhibited in the Panorama building before the June 10, 2026 Ukrainian strike, was far greater," the statement said.