I heard a historian talking recently about doing research at the main Kremlin archive, looking at documents going back to Ivan the Terrible, and she described just how badly everything was maintained. She said the librarians were great and dedicated, but they were severely neglected by the authorities. That a fire would break out at another archive and do great damage doesn’t surprise me at all.
This is very sad, and a lot of books and documents will most likely be stolen now as well. It is very important to scan old documents and books.
Thx.