Russia has destroyed or damaged at least 9.65 million books in Ukraine since May 2026, according to Chytomo. The publication reported at least 15 strikes on bookshops, printing houses, warehouses and offices of Ukrainian publishers between May and August 2026.
The publishers hit hardest were Ranok, Knyholav, BookChef, the Konvi printing house and the KnyhoLend chain.
More than 1.5 million books were lost in July, and a strike on Kharkiv in August destroyed 8 million copies, including 600,000 textbooks. Preliminary damage estimates stand at 1.19 billion hryvnias, though the real figure could be far higher.
Scale of the losses
According to the Book Chamber of Ukraine, the print run of books and brochures in 2025 totaled 33.21 million copies. The 9.65 million books lost over the summer of 2026 amount to nearly 29% of that figure.
Compared with the 2026 print run as of August 3, which stood at 13.09 million copies printed over more than seven months, the losses represent about 74% of that total.
Timeline of strikes
On August 1, Russian drones attacked a warehouse belonging to publisher Ranok in Kharkiv, which was also used by the KnyhoLend chain.
On July 2, drones destroyed a warehouse belonging to Denka Logistics, BookChef's logistics partner, resulting in the loss of about 800,000 books.
On July 8, the premises of children's publisher Mamyne Sonechko, which stored books and magazines, were damaged.
On the night of July 19, a Russian attack destroyed a warehouse belonging to publisher Knyholav, along with nearly 250,000 books.
