As a result of recent Russian attacks in Ukraine, 12 million books have been destroyed and more than 35 publishing facilities have been damaged, The BBC reports. According to Ukrayinska Pravda, this is a third of all books printed in Ukraine this year.
More than 35 publishing facilities have been hit in recent weeks.
But it is not only new books that are under threat. The Pochaina second-hand book market in Kyiv was recently attacked, and hundreds of individual market stalls burned down as a result.
Museums, art galleries, film studios, libraries and opera houses have also been damaged.
At the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, in particular, the golden domes of the Dormition Cathedral were damaged. Religious valuables were moved to a safe place in time, but after a drone attack a significant part of the roof caught fire.
Repairs are expected to cost $11.2m and take two years. The Lavra complex is also home to the Museum of Books and Printing of Ukraine. UNESCO added the complex to its list in 1990, and in September 2023 it was added to the list of World Heritage sites in danger.
According to Ukraine’s Minister of Culture, Tetyana Berezhna, Russia has attacked more than 1,900 sites of Ukrainian cultural heritage and more than 2,000 cultural institutions.
- In July, Russia destroyed more than 1.5 million books and continued to wage war on them in August.
- At the end of the summer, the Russian military hit a warehouse where books from several publishers were being stored.
- Nova Poshta plans to compensate losses for publishers and shops whose books were destroyed as a result of a Russian strike on the company’s fulfilment centre and sorting depot in Svyatopetrivske on the night of 28 August.