Russian strike burns 8 million books in Ukraine: publisher

A Russian strike on a warehouse in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, destroyed more than eight million books, publishing house Ranok said Monday.

Ranok said the books were destroyed in a fire after a weekend strike, and said the losses included textbooks for children. It called the fire “the largest loss to Ukraine's book infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale war” in 2022.

An AFP journalist saw firefighters working at the warehouse on Saturday, hours after Russia launched a drone and missile attack.

Ranok said the blaze was still burning when it issued its statement. Its director, Viktor Kruglov, called the strike an “attack on Ukrainian education and culture.”

The publisher said a strike on a warehouse near Kyiv last month burned 800,000 books. Ukraine has accused Moscow of targeting publishing centres during the war.