In Crimea, following the Ukrainian Armed Forces' strike, propaganda covered up the failure of the Panorama's renovation

The damage to the “Defense of Sevastopol” panorama following the fall of drone debris has once again prompted loud statements from Russian authorities. At the same time, questions about the failed reconstruction project and the missing billions of rubles remain unanswered.

This is reported in a story by the Center for Investigative Journalism. 

Following reports of damage to the “Panorama of the Defense of Sevastopol” museum building caused by debris from a drone shot down by Russian air defenses, representatives of the occupying authorities claimed that this was an alleged targeted strike against one of the symbols of “Russian military glory.” At the same time, the history of this site shows that its problems began long before the recent events.

The “Defense of Sevastopol” panorama was unveiled in 1905. The original canvas was created by the battle painter Franz Roubaud together with a group of German artists in the suburbs of Munich, and the canvas itself was woven in Brussels. During World War II, the building sustained significant damage, and the surviving fragments of the original work were evacuated to Moscow.

After the war, Soviet artists essentially recreated the exhibition from scratch. In doing so, they made changes to the composition that did not correspond to historical facts. In particular, characters appeared on the canvas who were not present during the events depicted. Thus, the current panorama is a reconstruction, while the original fragments of Franz Roubaud’s work remained in Moscow and were inaccessible even to restorers for a long time.

Following the occupation of Crimea, Russian authorities announced a large-scale reconstruction of the Historical Boulevard and the panorama. The contract, worth over 433 million rubles, was awarded without a competitive bidding process to the St. Petersburg-based company “Meander,” which has repeatedly been linked to state restoration projects and the Russian Ministry of Culture.

Work began in 2018 and was scheduled to be completed in 2020. During this time, the contractor spent over 300 million rubles, but the reconstruction was never completed. Subsequently, a court in St. Petersburg suspended the work due to criminal proceedings related to possible fraud by the contractor.

In the years that followed, the Historical Boulevard remained closed to visitors. The area gradually fell into disrepair: the alleys became overgrown with wild vegetation, and memorial sites were fenced off, and Sevastopol residents repeatedly complained about changes in contractors, unfinished construction, and delays in paying workers’ wages.

In 2026, the occupation administration signed a new contract for the reconstruction, worth nearly 2.5 billion rubles. Despite the significant increase in funding, this past spring the occupation administration’s architectural council officially acknowledged that the area of the Historical Boulevard remains in a semi-neglected state, although some cultural heritage sites have already been restored.

As journalists noted, restoration of the panorama canvas itself has been underway since the spring of 2025, carried out by specialists from the All-Russian Artistic Scientific and Restoration Center named after Grabar. According to them, the copy of the painting had numerous cracks and significant staining. At the same time, the original fragments of Roubaud’s work have so far been virtually never displayed to the general public.

Against this backdrop, statements by Russian officials regarding the alleged loss of the unique historical canvas following the latest incident have sparked debate. Critics of the official version emphasize that the exhibit housed in the Panorama building is a postwar reconstruction, while the authentic fragments of the original work remain in the museum collections of the capital of the “terrorist state.” 

On the night of June 10, the occupied city of Ak’yar came under attack by drones. Subsequently, reports emerged of a fire in the building housing the “Defense of Sevastopol 1854–1855” panorama. It is claimed that the fire broke out after Russian air defense systems engaged the drones.

Анна Бальчінос