Fire from drone debris damages Ukraine's largest painting, Cosmogony, in Lutsk

Falling debris from a drone and the fire that followed damaged "Cosmogony", described as the largest painting in Ukraine and the largest in the world, in the western city of Lutsk on 13 October.

The fire broke out at Adrenalin City, the site in Lutsk where the work is kept. It destroyed one of the painting's six parts, a section titled "The Future" ("Maibutnie"). Tetiana Repnytska, director of the Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art, told the public broadcaster Suspilne about the loss. Suspilne's culture channel relayed her account on 15 October.

What is known and what is not

The only account available so far is Repnytska's, as reported by Suspilne. The source material does not say how badly the other five parts were damaged. It also does not say whether they can be restored, how large the work is in official measurements, or what other damage the fire caused at Adrenalin City. It does not give the type of drone or say who launched it, and no figures have been released on casualties or on the wider impact of the attack in Lutsk. RealUA could not independently verify the extent of the damage.

Context

Lutsk, the administrative centre of Volyn region in north-western Ukraine, has been reached by Russian drones in recent days. RealUA reported on 13 October an expert's unconfirmed claim that Russian jet-powered Geran-4 drones launched from Crimea had flown on to Lutsk after reaching Lviv. That report did not mention the painting or Adrenalin City, and nothing in the sources links that claim to the fire.

The loss of one section of a six-part work is the kind of damage to cultural heritage that Ukrainian museums and artists have repeatedly reported during the full-scale war. The museum has not yet announced what will happen to the surviving parts. RealUA will update this report if more details are released.