Russian strikes destroy 12 million books in Ukraine ahead of school week

Russian strikes have destroyed some 12 million books in Ukraine just days before the first school week, severely damaging the country’s publishing infrastructure and inventories.

A printing plant on the outskirts of Kyiv was struck overnight while production had been ramping up to print 1.3 million textbooks—about 10 percent of all schoolbooks in Ukraine—leaving the facility gutted and large consignments ruined.

Publishing sector faces wide damage and growing concern

Across recent weeks, a series of attacks have hit printing houses, warehouses and other publishing-related sites. Local Ukrainian reports say more than 35 premises tied to publishing have been struck, and hundreds of stalls at Kyiv’s Pochaina second-hand book market were also destroyed.

“I believe this is deliberate on the part of the Russian Federation,” Viktoriya Haidai, commercial director of the publishing house Konvi, said. At the Kyiv plant she inspected, nothing could be salvaged: pages that survived flames were water-damaged from firefighting or ruined when the roof collapsed.

Authorities and industry representatives warn that the losses amount to roughly one third of all books printed in Ukraine this year and that the whole publishing sector is now under threat. There are repeated calls for international assistance to help preserve Ukrainian literature, distribution chains and cultural memory.

The Russian embassy in the United Kingdom has accused the Ukrainian government of harming its own cultural heritage, saying monuments were removed and streets renamed, and alleging cultural sites were being used to conceal military facilities. The Kremlin continues to deny that it deliberately targets civilian objects during the five years of the full-scale invasion, despite widespread strikes on residential and civilian infrastructure.

Photo: press material from the event