Russia’s strike on Kharkiv destroys books of celebrated Ukrainian poets and historian

During a Russian drone attack on Kharkiv, a pallet of books caught fire at a private transport company, according to Suspilne Kharkiv.

Among the destroyed titles were poetry collections and works of fiction, including:

• “Before the Storm” by the poet Vasyl Symonenko, one of the Ukrainian “Sixtiers” (A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA);
• “Lazy and Tender” by the poet Yurii Izdryk, winner of the Shevchenko National Prize, Ukraine’s highest literary honor award (A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA);
• “Rebellion Against the Empire: The Ukrainian Sixtiers” by Radomyr Mokryk (A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA) – the book is available in German translation “Die ukrainischen »Sechziger« Chronologie einer Revolte”;
• “On the Silver Shore” by the poet Mykola Vingranovsky, one of the Ukrainian “Sixtiers”  (A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA);
• “Waiting to Begin” by UK novelist Amanda Prowse (BookChef); and
• “Where There Is No God” by Ukrainian bestselling author Max Kidruk (KSD).

According to Denys Shelikhov, the head of the transport company, employees plan to assess the extent of the damage and resume operations once the aftermath of the attack is dealt with. He noted that this was the second Russian strike on the business — the first occurred on July 7.

“We started heading to the shelter and organizing ourselves. At the moment of impact, we were already in the shelter on site. After that, there were two more hits — three in total. Next, we plan to assess the scale of destruction and continue working. The warehouse and office premises were destroyed,” Shelikhov told Suspilne.

Overall, the Russian attack on November 12 damaged a civilian enterprise and about 30 buildings in central Kharkiv, injuring four people.

Earlier in 2025, bookstores from the “Knygoland” and “Family Leisure Club” chains, as well as the “Triada-Pack” printing house, were damaged in Kharkiv. In Kyiv, the bookstores Book.ua, Readeat, and Knygoland were also hit by shelling.

As reported earlier, in 2023, Russia launched a devastating attack on the “Factor-Druk” printing house.

RELATED: British Council office, several bookstores, media offices and newsrooms damaged during night attack on Kyiv

Images: Suspilne Kharkiv

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn