Jim Lawless: Russia deliberately attacked Lviv during BookForum

Writer and motivational speaker Jim Lawless stated that Russia’s attack on Lviv on Oct. 3, 2025 could have been linked to the annual BookForum festival.

The author of “Taming Tigers: Do Things You Never Thought You Could” believes the attack was intentionally timed to align with the book festival in Lviv. Loveless said he arrived in Ukraine just before his appearance at the forum on Oct. 5, 2025, and experienced the city’s intense shelling firsthand.

“The Russians are very brave, hurling explosives at mothers and children. They wait ‘til nightfall to cover their shame. Women who had no time to dress cover their night clothes with blankets distributed by the bright-eyed, smiling night porter who is serving his guests a full cup of reassurance and cheer!” Lawless wrote.

Lawless shared that during the air raid alert, he was in the shelter with other hotel guests. In his post, he included a video from Lviv and screenshots of drone activity reports, and accompanied it with the song “Bayraktar” by Taras Borovko.

It should be noted that Lawless planned his visit to Kyiv this summer but it was ultimately canceled. While initial media reports claimed the author had declined to come due to safety concerns, the organizers later clarified that they themselves had called off the event because of the risk of missile attacks.

During his event at BookForum, Lawless said: 

“When I arrived in Ukraine, I wanted to establish friendly relations with the people who would read my book. I received aggressive messages on social media, and people wrote to me by email saying, ‘I read your book, and I can’t believe you’re afraid to visit the city where I live.’ Honestly, this was a problem for me. It was awful.

“It made me feel like I had let people down, and broken their trust. I always replied to everyone who wrote to me, tried to explain the situation, promised that I would come and that we could talk. So when I was invited to Lviv, I realized it was an opportunity to restore that trust.”

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