Russian drone raids devastate Ukrainian publishing, wiping out millions of books

Russian drone attacks hit Ranok’s modern, automated warehouse in Charkiv, igniting a blaze that burned for almost a week and consumed eight million newly printed volumes, many of which were school textbooks. The raid follows a July strike on one of Kyiv’s largest printing facilities and additional assaults on book storage sites, which the Ukrainian Publishers Association says have eliminated nearly half of the nation’s annual publishing output.

Consequently, numerous schoolchildren begin the term without required learning materials. Ranok CEO Viktor Kruglov said that Russia regards books as more threatening than military equipment, deliberately seeking to erase Ukrainian cultural expression. The piece recalls Tsar Alexander II’s 1876 ban on Ukrainian language and contrasts it with today’s denial of a distinct Ukrainian culture by Russian leadership. It argues that rebuilding the book market must rely on smaller, decentralized printing and distribution to withstand further attacks, even as interest in Ukrainian literature surges.