Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has accused British intelligence of planning a drone strike that severely damaged the Museum of the Defence of Sevastopol on 10 June. The attack ignited a fire that, according to Russian-appointed local officials, destroyed roughly 90 per cent of a Soviet-era copy of Franz Roubaud’s panoramic painting of the 1854–55 siege. In a statement published on its website, the SVR described the operation as a “carefully planned provocation” by London and its special services.

According to the SVR, Ukrainian military personnel prepared and launched the drones but were “most likely unaware of the true target”. The agency claimed that British specialists, posing as military advisers, loaded the flight missions into the weapons systems. The SVR framed the strike as an act of historical revenge, asserting that the museum served as a “historical trigger” reviving painful memories of the Crimean War among the British elite. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova separately stated that London “controls the Kyiv regime in the commission of terrorist acts”. No evidence was presented to support the allegations. Ukrainian military sources have not commented on the specific claim of British involvement, and London has not issued a public response.

The museum housed a 1954 replica of the original Roubaud panorama, which was itself damaged during the Second World War. Fragments of the 1905 original survived because they were being prepared for exhibition at another branch. The SVR’s accusation extends a pattern of unsubstantiated claims by the agency against Britain, including previous allegations of plans to supply nuclear materials to Ukraine. Viewed from Western capitals, such statements are seen as part of a broader information campaign to shift attribution for strikes on Russian-controlled territory. The attack on the cultural site, which Russian officials called “targeted”, occurred amid regular Ukrainian drone and missile strikes on Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.

The fire was extinguished by the morning of 11 June, and museum officials estimated restoration could take from four months to three years. The SVR warned that Britain “will have to answer” for the strike, but no diplomatic or legal steps have been announced. The dossier remains unverified, with no independent confirmation of the SVR’s claims.