Russian strikes systematically target Ukrainian cultural identity through destruction of publishing infrastructure

Russian drone strikes on August 1 destroyed over 8 million books in a warehouse in northern Kharkiv, representing a campaign against Ukraine’s cultural heritage and national identity. The logistics center held an estimated 8 million volumes, reduced to ash within hours.

Educational consequences

Viktor Kruhlov, CEO of Ranok publishing house and one of many publishers affected, described the aftermath of the double explosion that struck at approximately 50 employees present. Miraculously, no fatalities occurred despite the intense heat that melted iron shelves and reduced thousands of books to charred remains.

“Two explosions followed each other, a few minutes apart. There were around 50 employees on site at the time, and it is a miracle that nobody died. Everything melted because of the temperature after the two explosions.”

Ranok, responsible for one-third of Ukraine’s educational textbooks, lost approximately 1 million of the 8 million books destroyed—many being schoolbooks scheduled for nationwide delivery within days. The timing coincided with peak educational publishing season, compounding the impact on the country’s academic infrastructure.

Cultural erasure

To Kruhlov and other Ukrainian cultural leaders, these targeted strikes confirm Russia’s broader objective of eliminating Ukrainian identity and cultural expression. “The whole world should know about what happened here,”

“We learned that during the Second World War, Nazis would burn thousands of books. Now, Russians routinely destroy millions of Ukrainian books. It is a deliberate strategy to damage Ukrainian culture and identity, because Russia doesn’t want to accept a prosperous Ukraine.”

Nata Protas, director of Zhorzh publishing house, emphasized the existential nature of these attacks, noting Moscow’s historical suppression of the Ukrainian language through over 400 documented bans. “Russia continues to pose a threat with its imperial narrative, and its will to simply seize or destroy something that is not theirs.”

Protas warned that preserving Ukrainian publishing houses has become fundamental to national survival. “These businesses simply can’t disappear, because those strikes aren’t simply destroying our book reserves, they are destroying us, our language, our nation and the country as a whole.”

Escalating attacks on publishing sector

Zhorzh, a Kharkiv-based publishing house founded in 2016, lost 400,000 books ranging from children’s literature to anti-stress coloring books. Despite community support, including reader pre-orders and authors waiving royalties, Protas acknowledged the need for international financial assistance to resume operations.

“Readers were the first to respond, by ordering books, pre-ordering even if they know that it will be very difficult for us to republish. Some of our authors have waived their royalties and advances for the time being, in order for us to use this money for restoration. But realistically we are hoping for financial assistance, maybe at a global scale. So far we haven’t received any.”

Multiple publishers including Varvar, Fabula, Shche Odnu Storinku, Korali Books and distributor Knyholend have suspended operations while facing the daunting task of reprinting destroyed inventories. The August 1 strike was part of an escalating pattern of attacks that has destroyed over 9.5 million Ukrainian books this summer alone—equivalent to one-third of Ukraine’s average annual production of 25 million books.

Key incidents include the July 19 missile and drone barrage on Kyiv publishing houses that destroyed 750,000 books, followed by July 2 strikes that eliminated another 800,000 volumes. The Ukrainian Book Institute has appealed to international partners and global publishers to support the sector’s recovery and terminate cooperation with Russian cultural entities.

While millions of books have been reduced to ash, efforts to preserve Ukrainian language and identity through publishing continue with renewed determination and international backing.

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