Ukraine risks the collapse of its book ecosystem after Russian strikes in July and early August destroyed about 10m books and damaged printing and warehouse infrastructure, officials say. The Ukrainian Book Institute warned the losses have undercut production capacity and pushed some publishers toward financial collapse, and it is now asking the international publishing community for help.
A major strike on 1 August hit warehouses owned by the RNK-Ranok publishing group in Kharkiv, destroying approximately 8m books, the institute said. Earlier attacks in July on Kyiv storage and production facilities resulted in the loss of more than 1.5m books. Taken together, the incidents account for approximately 30% of the volume of books produced in Ukraine each year.
The RNK-Ranok logistics centre also serves as the distribution hub for the national bookselling chain KnyhoLand, which operates 51 shops and several websites. Alongside the estimated 8m trade books lost in Kharkiv, another 600,000 school textbooks were destroyed. The preliminary total loss has been set at almost 1bn hryvnias (£16.5m).
“At this stage, we face the risk of the collapse of the entire book ecosystem,” said Oleksandra Koval, director of the Ukrainian Book Institute. The institute is soliciting donations to shore up publishers and urging foreign publishers and literary organizations to work with Ukrainian peers and draw attention to attacks on the country’s cultural infrastructure.
On 16 August, a Russian strike on Kyiv set fire to the Pochaina book market, toppling several rows of stalls and destroying books and vendors’ property. Founded in 1997, Pochaina was once one of Ukraine’s largest book markets, with hundreds of stalls and inventory from more than 120 publishers.
The institute framed the industry as “of strategic importance” to national culture, preserving and amplifying Ukraine’s voice domestically and abroad. The government is preparing support programmes for affected publishers and printers, including grants to replace equipment and compensation for property damage, but the institute cautioned state aid will not fully cover the sector’s losses.
Olena Odynoka, deputy director for international cooperation at the Ukrainian Book Institute, said Ukrainian publishing has a special mission in the face of Russia’s campaign against national identity. “Supporting Ukrainian publishers today is not simply about preserving an industry. It is about defending Ukraine’s right to speak in its own voice and shape its own narrative in the world.” The institute also called for an end to cooperation with Russian publishers and agencies, arguing that solidarity is essential to protecting cultural heritage Russia is trying to destroy.
