A Russian drone struck a warehouse belonging to the Ukrainian publishing house Ranok in Kharkiv on Aug. 1, setting fire to thousands of books stored inside, the company reported.
The strike sparked a fire at the publishing house’s warehouse, covering around 10,000 square meters (108,000 square feet), Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram. One man was reportedly injured in the attack. A female employee of the publishing house who was initially unreachable later answered her phone and was confirmed to be alive and unharmed, Syniehubov said in an update at around 2 p.m.
The warehouse was also used by KnyhoLand, one of Ukraine’s largest bookstore chains, to store books and process customer orders. “Everything is on fire,” Ihor Zarudko, a KnyhoLand representative, wrote on Facebook. The company temporarily suspended online orders following the attack, but its physical bookstores continued to operate as usual. “We need your support, and I invite you to visit our bookstores for books,” Zarudko said.
The strike is the latest example of a growing trend of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s book industry. In July alone, Russian strikes destroyed more than 1.5 million Ukrainian books, according to the Ukrainian Book Institute. On July 19, a Russian attack on Kyiv overnight destroyed nearly 250,000 books belonging to the Ukrainian publisher Knyholove. Earlier that month, a Russian strike on Kyiv on July 2 destroyed around 800,000 books stored by the publishing house BookChef, the largest single loss suffered by Ukraine’s book industry that month.
The New Voice of Ukraine reported that Russian forces have systematically targeted publishing and printing industries for five years, destroying more than 1.5 million books in July 2026 alone. At least 35 Ukrainian publishing houses have suffered losses as a result of Russian aggression, according to data compiled by the Ukrainian Book Institute and the publisher Ranok.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has endured repeated Russian strikes throughout the war, and its publishing sector has been hit before. In May 2024, a missile strike on the Factor-Druk printing press in Kharkiv killed seven employees and destroyed 50,000 books, with losses estimated at 20 million UAH ($485,000), according to The New Voice of Ukraine.
Ukrainian cultural officials have described the attacks on book warehouses and printing plants as a deliberate campaign to destroy Ukrainian culture and education. The strikes come as schools across Ukraine prepare for the new academic year, raising concerns about shortages of textbooks and educational materials produced by publishers such as Ranok, one of the country’s largest educational publishers.
Publishing industry representatives have called on international partners to support Ukrainian publishers and help rebuild destroyed infrastructure. The attacks also carry a symbolic weight: Moscow has long sought to erase Ukrainian-language literature and identity, and each warehouse fire removes books that publishers say cannot be quickly reprinted while the war continues.
Sources: The Kyiv Independent, The New Voice of Ukraine, Ukrainska Pravda
Author: Russia Desk
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