Russian Military Strikes Destroy 10 Million Books in Ukraine
Kyiv says Russian attacks on publishers and book warehouses are part of an attempt to wipe out Ukrainian identity.
Over the summer, Russian military strikes on Ukraine resulted in the destruction of over 10 million books, according to the Ukrainian foreign ministry, which describes it as an effort to eradicate Ukrainian culture. The Kharkiv publishing house in northeastern Ukraine suffered the most significant loss, with 8 million books, including approximately 620,000 school textbooks, destroyed.
In addition, about 60,000 books were damaged in recent Russian assaults on warehouses belonging to various publishers around the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian authorities claim that Russia is trying to eliminate Ukrainian identity.
Moscow has not explicitly acknowledged targeting Ukrainian books, but it asserts that its attacks aim at military sites or areas supporting Ukraine's war effort, such as its energy infrastructure. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment. Just two days prior to initiating its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the Ukrainian government aimed to "root out the Russian language and culture" in Ukraine.
Since then, Russia has launched at least 21 assaults on Ukraine's book industry over the past four and a half years, as reported by Kyiv. Earlier this month, Ukrainian media revealed that Russian bombardment during just two months destroyed around 11.5 million books, which is equivalent to one-third of Ukraine's annual production and higher than the figure cited by Kyiv's foreign ministry on Sunday.
Many Ukrainian bookshops have closed their doors this year due to reduced demand for their products, while Russian attacks have destroyed numerous warehouses where books are stored, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda. In July and August, Russian forces attacked at least nine publishing companies, primarily specializing in producing books for schoolchildren.
Oleksandra Koval, the director of the Ukrainian Book Institute, expressed concern about the potential collapse of the entire book ecosystem. Earlier this month, three individuals were injured in an attack on Kyiv's famous Pochaina book market, where a fire engulfed the stalls. Two weeks earlier, a Russian drone struck a book warehouse, setting thousands of books ablaze.
Ukraine's military reported on Monday that it had targeted Russian communications equipment in Belgorod, a site used to control drones in the Russian-controlled Huliaipole city in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, as well as logistics depots in Crimea, Luhansk, and Kursk, a border region with northeastern Ukraine. Additionally, Ukraine claims to have targeted a Russian radar site and an S-400 air defense system command-and-control vehicle in Russia's Bryansk region.
The Russian defense ministry reported that Ukraine launched 239 drones overnight, including strikes over Kursk, Belgorod, Bryansk, and Crimea. Meanwhile, Ukraine's air force said Russia had fired a Kh-59 missile over the Black Sea and attacked Ukraine with more than 120 drones.
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