Russian Attacks Destroy 10 Million Books, Threaten Ukraine's Publishing Industry

Ukrainian publishers are urgently seeking international support after a series of Russian attacks in July and early August resulted in the destruction of approximately 10 million books. The strikes targeted publishing houses, printing facilities, and warehouses, significantly impacting the country's book production capacity and leaving some companies facing financial ruin.

One major attack on August 1st alone destroyed around 8 million books at the RNK-Ranok publishing group's warehouses in Kharkiv. This follows earlier attacks in Kyiv that led to the loss of over 1.5 million books. The Ukrainian Book Institute warns that these losses represent about 30% of Ukraine's annual book output and could lead to the collapse of the entire book ecosystem.