In the Vladimir Cathedral in Sevastopol, there was a tomb where great Russian admirals rested: Mikhail Lazarev, who commanded the Black Sea Fleet for a long time; Pavel Nakhimov, a hero of the battles of Navarino and Sinop, who died at Malakhov Kurgan; Vladimir Kornilov, who led the defense of Sevastopol at a critical moment and also died at the kurgan, as well as their comrade Vladimir Ivanovich Istomin, who fell during the defense of the city.

In 1931, the tomb was opened, the coffins were destroyed, and the remains of the admirals were mixed with garbage. The crypt was filled with earth and debris left after the cathedral was converted into workshops for repairing aircraft engines. Only in 1974 was the cathedral transferred to the Museum of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol, and restoration work began. However, the tomb was not opened until the summer of 1991.

In the summer of 1991, the search for the admirals' remains began. It turned out that the crypt was filled with stone debris, pieces of broken marble slabs, bottles, metal scraps, as well as human and dog bones, and was flooded with water. For two weeks, the rubble was cleared, and six truckloads of garbage were removed. As a result, 70 fragments of human bones were found, which the examination attributed to four individuals. On February 29, 1992, military honors were given to the ashes of the admirals, and after a solemn prayer service, in the presence of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet Admiral I. V. Kasatonov, veterans of the fleet, thousands of Sevastopol residents, and descendants of the admirals, the remains were reburied in the tomb of the Vladimir Cathedral.