Kharkiv’s Faktor-Druk printing house resumes operations after Russian missile strike

Kharkiv’s Faktor-Druk printing house has resumed operation after being severely damaged by a Russian missile strike on May 23. Radio Liberty filmed working process in a report from the partially restored facility.

Despite the devastating attack, the factory has already started producing textbooks for the new school year. The printing house, which previously worked with leading Ukrainian publishers like “Vivat,” “KSD” (Family Laisure Club), and “Folio,” has shifted its focus to printing essential educational materials. 

Tatiana Hryniuk, the general director, confirmed that production is not yet fully operational, but they’ve made significant progress.

“Right now, the main thing we can do is print. We’ve printed ‘History of Ukraine,’ ‘World History,’ ‘Physics,’ ‘Art,’ and many other textbooks. Previously, we worked on textbooks for 7th grade, and now we are printing for 1st and 2nd grades,” she said.

Currently, the printed books are sent to other printing houses, where covers are produced, and the books are then delivered to schools and stores. 

According to Hryniuk, damages from the Russian missile strike exceed €10 million, with losses still being calculated. The attack claimed seven lives and destroyed almost 100,000 books.

“We lost both machines and people,” Hryniuk said. “Training new workers was difficult.”

Colleagues from other printing houses provided crucial support, offering internships to Faktor-Druk trainees. The destroyed equipment may be repurposed as a memorial honoring the fallen workers. In a gesture of solidarity, Ranok Publishing House rebuilt the destroyed batch of 7th-grade “German Language” textbooks that burned in the strike.

Main image: Oleh Syniehubov’s Telegram channel

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn