Recent Russian military strikes have devastated Ukraine’s publishing industry, resulting in the destruction of more than 12 million books as students prepare to return to school. Among the facilities targeted was a plant on the outskirts of Kyiv, which was hit overnight while working to produce 1.3 million books.
Viktoria Haida, commercial director at the Konvi publishing firm in Kyiv, described the attacks as intentional actions by the Russian Federation. She noted that over the past two months, several major publishing houses have lost critical logistics warehouses that held massive inventories of books.
Beyond industrial printing sites, the campaign has also impacted cultural infrastructure, including a recent strike on a second-hand book market in Kyiv that destroyed hundreds of individual stalls. The report also notes that destroying more than 12 million books ahead of the first week back at school, russia has targeted Ukrainian printing presses and publishing houses in recent attacks.