Russia's war has destroyed 13 million Ukrainian books
Books from the Ranok publishing house demolished by the Russian Federation (photo: Getty Images)
Russian missile and drone attacks this summer destroyed around 13 million books in Ukraine. That is roughly one-third of all books printed in the country in 2026, The Guardian reports.
Strike on Ranok publishing house
One of Russia's biggest attacks on Ukraine's literary industry was the strike on the warehouse of the Kharkiv-based Ranok publishing house. In August, it was storing 628,000 new school textbooks prepared for the academic year.
Ranok co-founder and CEO Viktor Kruglov was at the warehouse with five employees when the strike occurred.
"The sound of an explosion, and almost simultaneously I saw a huge fire," he said.
According to Kruglov, the explosion occurred about 30 meters from the group. When the employees began fighting the fire, a second attack struck, forcing them to evacuate.
The attack destroyed around 8 million books—more than 85% of the publishing house's stock. They included children's books, textbooks, teenage literature, and other publications. Firefighters battled the blaze for a week.
"When you see what was produced with your brain, with your hands, with your imagination, spoiled by Russia, it's an awful feeling," Kruglov said.
He warned that shortages of some books could emerge in the fall as stores gradually run out of their existing stock.
Russia destroyed one-third of books printed this year
Ukrainian authorities said Russian missiles and drones destroyed around 13 million Ukrainian books this summer alone—roughly one-third of all copies printed in the country in 2026.
Ukrainian publishers stress that the losses are not only economic. Books are closely tied to the Ukrainian language and cultural identity.
Deputy Culture Minister Bohdana Laiuk said strikes on book warehouses are part of a broader campaign targeting warehouses, logistics centers and other civilian infrastructure.
"They cannot occupy Kyiv. So they target warehouses around Kyiv to take the possibility of everyday life from us—and books are part of everyday life," she said.
Laiuk also recalled that in occupied territories, Russian forces removed Ukrainian-language books from libraries and destroyed them.
Publishers suffer millions in losses
Other Ukrainian publishing houses have also been affected by Russian attacks.
Kyiv-based Krapky, founded in 2023, lost its entire book stock after a strike on a warehouse in the capital's suburbs. At the September BookForum in Lviv, the publisher had no physical copies to sell—visitors could only place preorders using a QR code.
Kharkiv-based Vivat lost books worth 16 million hryvnias. Despite the losses, the publisher said it would continue publishing Ukrainian authors, and its 2027 publishing plan is already finalized.
A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA lost around 40,000 books. Its founder, Ivan Malkovych, estimated the losses at approximately 500,000 USD.
Following the attacks, publishers are changing their storage systems: large inventories will be distributed among several smaller warehouses across the country. This should reduce risks, but could result in longer delivery times for books.
Ukraine's book market continues to grow
Ukraine's book market has changed significantly since the full-scale war began. Before 2022, Russian-language publications accounted for around 70% of the market.
After Russian imports were banned and Ukrainians' language preferences shifted, publishers began actively producing Ukrainian literature, translations, and new editions of classics.
Despite the destruction of their warehouses, publishers plan to recover. Ranok is already working to reprint textbooks and its most popular books.
Smaller companies, however, have found themselves in a more difficult position. Who is That? publishing company announced that it was suspending operations after its entire book stock was destroyed in two Russian attacks this summer.
As reported, in July, a Russian strike destroyed the warehouse of Ukrainian publisher Knyholav—the fire destroyed around 250,000 books.
And on the night of July 2, Russia's massive attack on Kyiv destroyed the warehouse of BookChef's logistics partner, where around 800,000 books burned.
