Ukraine’s publishing industry is appealing for international help after a series of Russian attacks destroyed around 10 million books and severely damaged printing, storage and distribution infrastructure across the country.

The Ukrainian Book Institute said strikes carried out in July and early August had affected such a large share of the country’s publishing capacity that some companies were now at risk of financial collapse.

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One of the most damaging attacks took place on 1 August, when warehouses belonging to the RNK-Ranok publishing group in Kharkiv were hit. Around 8 million books were destroyed in the strike.

That followed attacks in Kyiv during July, which resulted in the loss of more than 1.5 million books. Together, the recent attacks are estimated to have destroyed roughly 30% of the number of books Ukraine produces in a typical year.

The RNK-Ranok logistics centre plays a central role in the country’s book trade. It stores titles for the group’s various imprints and also serves as a distribution hub for KnyhoLand, a national bookselling chain with 51 shops and several online platforms.

Alongside the millions of books lost, around 600,000 school textbooks were also destroyed. Preliminary estimates put the total damage at close to 1 billion hryvnias, or around £16.5 million.

Oleksandra Koval, director of the Ukrainian Book Institute, warned that the scale of the damage could affect far more than individual companies.

“At this stage, we face the risk of the collapse of the entire book ecosystem,” she said.

The institute is now seeking donations for affected publishers and has appealed to the international publishing community to continue working with Ukrainian companies, support recovery efforts and draw attention to the damage being inflicted on the country’s cultural infrastructure.

The destruction has continued beyond publishing warehouses.

On 16 August, a Russian attack on Kyiv caused a fire at the Pochaina book market, damaging several rows of stalls, books and vendors’ property.

Founded in 1997, the market was once one of the country’s largest centres for books, with hundreds of stalls and titles from more than 120 publishers. Its destruction added another symbolic and practical blow to a sector already struggling under the pressure of war.

Why Books Matter To Ukraine

The Ukrainian Book Institute described publishing as strategically important to the country because of the role books play in preserving language, culture and national identity.

The Ukrainian government is working on support schemes for damaged publishers and printing companies, including grants for equipment restoration and compensation for property losses. However, the institute said state funding alone would not be enough to cover the scale of the damage.

Olena Odynoka, the institute’s deputy director for international cooperation, said supporting publishers was about more than protecting businesses.

She argued that Ukrainian publishing now carries a wider cultural responsibility at a time when Russia continues to challenge Ukrainian identity, history and cultural independence.

A Call For International Solidarity

The institute has also urged international publishers and literary agencies to end cooperation with Russian companies.

It said solidarity from the global book industry was essential to protecting Ukraine’s cultural heritage and ensuring that Ukrainian writers and publishers could continue to present the country’s own stories to readers at home and abroad.

With millions of books gone, warehouses damaged and retailers affected, the crisis has moved far beyond individual publishing houses. For Ukraine, the destruction of books has become part of a broader battle over who gets to preserve, publish and define the country’s cultural memory.