Ukraine’s book industry is facing its worst crisis yet, driven by targeted Russian attacks on publishing infrastructure KYIV, Ukraine -- Seconds before the Russian drone struck, Viktor Kruglov was thinking about textbooks — tens of thousands of them, and how to get them to Ukrainian schools faster. Minutes later, a second explosive-laden Shahed drone hit, laying waste to the main hub of his publishing house, Ranok, in northeastern Kharkiv. The blaze burned for almost a week, reducing millions of books to ash.
Ukraine’s publishing industry is facing its worst crisis yet, driven by targeted Russian attacks — part of a broader culture war in which nearly 5,000 cathedrals, churches, museums, theaters and other cultural sites have been destroyed or damaged and 35,000 art objects looted. More than 13 million books — a third of the country’s annual print run — were destroyed in two months this summer, causing at least $39.3 million (1.75 billion hryvnias) in damage, the Ministry of Culture said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not respond to an request for comment about the Russian strikes on Ukraine's publishing infrastructure.
Despite a surge in demand for Ukrainian-language books following Russia’s 2022 invasion, the destruction is setting the industry back — and the losses go beyond money. Publishers are expected to invest less in debut authors, threatening the future of Ukrainian literature. Small, independent houses may publish less or close altogether, narrowing the market, while larger publishers play it safe and lean on bestsellers.
Besides Ranok, at least 40 other publishing houses and multiple bookstores have suffered damage in recent weeks. Still, Kruglov said the company has backup warehouses and stores all its files in the cloud. For Culture Minister Berezhna, the latest attacks are part of Russia's “systematic” destruction of Ukrainian heritage.
She points to the 19th century, when much of modern Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire, and Russia issued decrees banning or severely restricting the publishing and public speaking of the Ukrainian language. Ukrainian literature exists. We have the books in our libraries, which were kept in secret from the very old ages, and they still exist,” she said.
The attacks have hit publishers financially, Berezhna said, hurting their ability to invest in new authors. Debut writers are costly to publish, compared with the safer, more profitable bet of bestsellers and established translated literature. These “newcomers, debut literature, in 100 years will become Ukrainian classics that will tell the world about Ukraine,” she said, adding that she fears there will be less support for young Ukrainian authors.
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