Russian drones damaged a library in the Chernihiv Oblast

On the night of March 13, 2026, a Russian drone damaged the city library located in a historic building in the center of Novhorod-Siverskyi.

“The heart of the community’s library is broken. Standing on the corner, the light-blue building resembled a page from an old book laid open under the sky. It carried a long history, having endured the hardships of World War II, passed through the chaotic 1990s, was later restored, and finally starting a new life in the 2000s. One strike from an enemy drone and what disappears is not just a building. A part of the city’s face — our memory — disappears. The enemy strikes not only at cities. It strikes at our memory, our culture, and our identity. There are things that cannot be destroyed. You cannot destroy the memory of the people who will keep this house alive in their memories,” a representative of the library wrote.

The building caught fire after being struck by a drone, and it was quickly brought under control by firefighters from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

Oleksandr Seliverstov, head of the Novhorod-Siverskyi District Military Administration, said nearby residential buildings and administrative premises were also damaged. The shock wave shattered windows in buildings.

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“Russia intentionally struck the city center, and deployed a strike drone of the Geran type. The terrorists targeted a historic building that housed the city library, a place of knowledge and tranquility. While the city slept, Russian drones destroyed books and civilian infrastructure,” Seliverstov wrote.

As previously reported, the Vovnyanska village library branch was destroyed in a Russian drone attack in the Sumy Oblast. The strike destroyed not only the building but also the entire book collection.

As a reminder, in November 2025, the Vyshhorod Central District Library was damaged as a result of a Russian combined attack.

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Main image: Oleksandr Seliverstov’s Facebook page, Novhorod-Siverskyi city library Facebook page

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn