Former Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (UINM) head Volodymyr Vyatrovych, a European Solidarity lawmaker on the Verkhovna Rada’s committee on humanitarian and information policy, has called for accelerating the clearing of book warehouses through libraries and bookstores to prevent Russian strikes from destroying publishing stock.
"Before we talk about compensating publishers for destroyed books, we should understand why the Russians have been able to destroy them on such a scale in the first place. It’s because they sit in warehouses for months. This isn’t due to poor demand for books. The real reason is that Ukraine’s network of bookstores is still not developed enough for even books in high demand to quickly reach readers’ hands. Bookstores and libraries are where they would be relatively safe, and, more importantly, where they would fulfill their true purpose — giving people knowledge, emotions and the joy of reading," Vyatrovych wrote on Facebook.
He stressed that the focus today should not be only on compensation for books destroyed by Russia, but also on doing everything possible to clear the warehouses quickly through bookstores and libraries.
"The state should direct the, unfortunately, limited resources it can allocate to culture today toward supporting these networks. The law on supporting book publishing and distribution, adopted back in 2022 and providing for partial rent compensation for bookstores, should finally start working. Library procurement programs also need to be fully restored," the lawmaker added.
Ranok publishing house CEO Viktor Kruhlov backed Vyatrovych’s post.
"Plus, we need a program to stimulate end-consumer demand for cultural products. This could be a ‘book thousand’ [program], which saved publishers during COVID," he wrote in the comments.
Vivat publishing house CEO and co-owner Yulia Orlova said distributing what remains in warehouses to stores and libraries looks like at least some way out.
"With these warehouses, I feel like the squirrel Scrat with his acorn: we partly moved from Kharkiv to Rivne, came back, then to Kyiv, they started hitting warehouses in Kyiv, we went to Lviv, where prices are sky-high. And warehouses need at least 2,000 square meters [of space], plus equipment. That’s millions of hryvnias… I don’t know how to preserve everything," she added.
As reported previously, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky instructed the Culture Ministry and the Finance Ministry on July 27 to prepare a mechanism for state support of the publishing industry. Publishers, booksellers and the industry association are counting on state support to compensate for losses from Russian shelling.
Ukrainian Book Institute (UBI) head Oleksandra Koval said after a recent Russian strike damaged publishing houses and printing plants that 150-200 million hryvnias are needed to restore a million lost books.
In 2022, Russian strikes damaged Ranok’s logistics center in Kharkiv, destroying part of its book stock and causing damages of tens of millions of hryvnias.
On May 23, 2024, a Russian attack on Kharkiv damaged the Faktor-Druk printing plant.
On June 17, 2025, a strike damaged the BookUa bookstore-café in Kyiv’s Nyvky district, shattering glass doors and windows. The same day, a warehouse belonging to publisher Ukrainian Priority was destroyed, burning tens of thousands of books across more than 130 titles.
On July 4, 2025, an overnight Russian strike damaged a warehouse belonging to publisher and online bookstore Nash Format in Kyiv.
On Aug. 28, 2025, the KnyhoLend bookstore in Kyiv was damaged in a strike, spoiling books. Kyiv’s Readeat bookstore was also affected that day.
On Sept. 30, 2025, a warehouse belonging to publisher Smaky was damaged in a Russian strike on Dnipro, destroying part of a print run.
On Oct. 23, 2025, the Plekay bookstore in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district was damaged in a Russian strike, with the blast wave shattering windows.
On May 14, 2026, a Russian strike damaged an electrical substation at one of Ranok’s logistics centers in Kyiv.
On May 24, 2026, one of the Knyharnia Ye bookstore chain’s outlets in Kyiv’s Podil district was damaged.
On July 2, 2026, the central warehouse of logistics company Denka Logistics was destroyed in a Russian attack, destroying about 800,000 books belonging to publisher BookChef.
Overnight on July 19, a Russian attack destroyed a warehouse belonging to publisher Knyholav, destroying 250,000 books. Publisher MISON was also destroyed, and the office of publisher Ark.UAe in Kyiv was damaged. A printing plant belonging to the Konvi group was also destroyed, with almost 250,000 textbooks and 350,000 blanks for publishing production destroyed.
On Aug. 1, a Russian strike on Kharkiv damaged Ranok warehouses storing stock belonging to the KnyhoLend, FabulaKnyhomania, READBERRY and Korali Books chains, as well as Ranok itself. Textbooks were reported burned in the fire.
Overnight on Aug. 5, a Russian strike on the Denka Logistics center destroyed more than 100,000 books belonging to BookChef.
