Russian air strikes in late summer 2026 destroyed more than 13 million Ukrainian books, pushing the country’s publishing industry toward collapse, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture.
Danish broadcaster DR reports that Russian bombing destroyed several warehouses holding printed books over two summer months. Ukraine’s culture minister, Tetiana Berezhna, accuses Russia of deliberately targeting Ukrainian culture.
The figure was first reported by Fortune on September 21. The magazine put the loss at about one third of Ukraine’s annual print run, and the damage at $39.3 million, or 1.75 billion hryvnias.
The New York Times reported on September 25 that the total reaches 15 million books when recent months are included. Per Artem Bidenko, head of the Ukrainian Publishers Association, that equals nearly half of the country’s yearly book production.
Publishers fear fewer debut authors
Viktor Kruglov, who heads a Ukrainian publishing house, called the losses a major catastrophe in remarks to the New York Times. He said Russia is deliberately trying to erase everything connected to Ukrainian culture.
Demand for Ukrainian-language books has risen since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Publishers now expect to invest in fewer debut authors, which could mean fewer Ukrainian writers in the years ahead, according to DR.
According to Gwara Media, an August 1 attack hit a Ranok publishing warehouse in Kharkiv and destroyed around eight million books. The outlet also reported an August 28 strike on a Nova Poshta warehouse in Sviatopetrivsk, in the Kyiv region, where several publishers stored stock.
A book market in Kyiv was struck by a Russian ballistic missile on August 16, DR reports. The BBC reported on August 31 that strikes had destroyed 12 million books and damaged more than 35 publishing facilities.
Danish expert on culture as a target
Frederik Rosén, director of the Nordic Center for Cultural Heritage and Armed Conflict, told DR that Russia has targeted cultural heritage since Soviet times. He said Russia views culture as a battle zone and as part of its military project.
Rosén noted that when Russia invaded Crimea, it added the peninsula’s most important cultural sites to its own list of Russian cultural assets. He argues that cultural heritage should feature more in Western debates about preparedness and defense against Russian attacks.
Fortune reports that nearly 5,000 cathedrals, churches, museums, theaters and other cultural sites in Ukraine have been destroyed or damaged, and that 35,000 objects have been looted. The Associated Press asked Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov whether Russia deliberately targets publishers’ warehouses, but received no response.
Denmark has been among Ukraine’s financial backers during the war, including through aid packages to Kyiv. DR’s report does not link any Danish funding to the destroyed book stocks.
