Losses in the publishing industry, charred, and scorched books: Ukrainian national stand in Frankfurt

Ukraine’s national stand opened Oct. 7, 2026, on the first day of the Frankfurt Book Fair. This year, it was dedicated to Ukraine’s publishing industry losses resulting from Russian attacks.

Human rights activist and journalist Maksym Butkevych delivered the keynote speech while the Deputy Director for International Cooperation at the Ukrainian Book Institute Olena Odynoka and Head of Communication at Goethe-Institut Ukraine Maria Shubchyk  moderated the opening ceremony.

Overall, the opening ceremony was attended by Ukrainian Deputy Culture Minister Bohdana Laiuk, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair Jürgen Boos, CEO of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association Peter Kraus vom Kleff, senior official representing the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Konrad Schmidt-Werthern, Head of the Department of Culture at the German Foreign Ministry Christina Beinhoff, Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut Gitte Zschoch, the Vice President and acting director of Germany’s Federal Agency for Civic Education Dr. Volker Ullrich, and Yulia Kozlovets, the Director of the International Book Arsenal Festival in Kyiv.

During her speech, Laiuk noted that Ukraine lost at least 13 million books this summer as a result of Russian strikes on warehouses, publishing houses, and printing plants. According to her, this figure will inevitably affect the whole industry:

“The loss of so many books will have immediate consequences. All of us here in Frankfurt know that consequences in literature and the book industry don’t happen overnight. We’ll see some of them in a year, or two, or even five. Right now, my focus is on new voices and diversity. When resources are scarce in the publishing industry, new voices, debut authors and small publishers are the most vulnerable.”

Kraus vom Kleff, CEO of the German Book Trade Association, noted that, according to his calculations, the stand opened on the 1,688th day of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, a period longer than World War I.

“Books are the first thing they ban,” Kraus vom Kleff said. “Why? Because you can read a book all by yourself, just for yourself, and books allow you to gain experience, to think, and to learn empathy,” he added.

Kraus vom Kleff assured that representatives of the Frankfurt Book Fair are doing everything possible to support their Ukrainian colleagues.

RELATED: Ukraine launches 500,000 U.S. dollars fundraising campaign to support small publishers affected by war

Jürgen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, emphasized the importance of reading alongside Ukraine and noted that in recent years the fair has been working on this together with Ukrainian partners.

“Those books disappeared, and we must ensure that they reappear. We must give authors opportunities, provide work for translators, and begin licensing these books for international publication to bring them to a global audience,” Boos said about books and warehouses under attack.

Boos added that literature plays an important role and that the book fair supports Ukraine through books. In his view, the most important thing is to reveal the real people behind Ukrainian books and to have their works translated. 

This was also Boos’s final Frankfurt Book Fair opening as director. He has led the organization for more than 20 years and will step down after this year’s fair. Publishing executive Joachim Kaufmann will succeed him. 

Schmidt-Werthern, a representative of the German Federal Ministry of Culture and Media, said he felt he should be thanking people at the stand for their efforts, rather than receiving their thanks.

“We are the ones who should thank you for creating under the most difficult circumstances. I was told that this presentation was prepared in the last 24 hours because a lack of electricity made it impossible to prepare it in advance — you had to put it together here.”

Schmidt-Werthern also presented the German translation of Yaryna Chornoguz’s poetry collection “[dasein: the defense of presence],” which was shortlisted for the German Hotlist-2026 award:

“This young woman went to war, endured everything, went to many places we know from the news, and is now an expert in countering drones in this war. In the evening, she sits down and writes poetry. Why? To help her preserve her sanity throughout the war. Her poetry, which I wholeheartedly recommend to all of you, is unlike most of what we usually read. It’s philosophical, it’s poetic, and brutal. Brutal as war itself.”

What was presented

Ukraine’s national stand was organized by the Ukrainian Book Institute, while German partners covered the cost of renting the space. Nearly 50 Ukrainian participants worked at the stand, and over the course of five days, nearly 40 events featuring Ukrainian and international speakers took place.

According to Odynoka, Ukraine’s role at the fair has changed significantly over the past few years:

“Just five years ago,” Odynoka said, “I was walking through the fair’s aisles with Translate Ukraine flyers, asking and inviting foreign publishers to translate Ukrainian literature. Now, program participants are coming to us with review copies and asking about the next open call, and some are even publishing translations of Ukrainian literature without the program’s support.”

The stand featured new releases from Ukrainian publishers, as well as Ukrainian books and magazines in German and English, available for purchase on site. A separate exhibition showcased the 2025 Book Arsenal Best Book Design collection. The stand’s visual identity was developed by Cultural Forces. The organization also presented books by military writers, and this year, the Third Army Corps, the largest formation of Ukraine’s Defense Forces, joined the initiative.

The program for the national stand was jointly organized by the Ukrainian Book Institute, the Goethe-Institut Ukraine, the Ukrainian Institute, the Art Arsenal, and the German Federal Agency for Civic Education. Ukraine’s participation in the fair was supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Embassy of Ukraine in Germany, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Frankfurt am Main, and the Coordination Center for Ukrainians in Frankfurt.

Charred books

The national stand also featured the Born/Burn Alive installation by artist Valentyna Veremko. It was based on 22 books that were burned or charred during the Russian strike on the Ranok logistics center in Kharkiv on Aug. 1, 2026. At that time, approximately 8 million copies were destroyed, including more than 620,000 school textbooks.

RELATED: Ranok publishing house logistics center and One More Page warehouse damaged in Russian attack

The charred books were stacked in a tower inside a glass display case. A scale marked with 12 dates, painted in red, ran across the glass from 1626, when Ukrainian books were first burned, to 2026. The artist deliberately left the two marks above the final date blank.

The installation’s title changes by just one letter: “Born Alive” becomes “Burn Alive.” The idea to bring the installation here was proposed in September through the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany, and the team managed to bring it to life in just a few weeks.

“These books were meant to find their way into the hands of readers: schoolchildren, students, and anyone who opens a page to learn something new. Instead, they went up in flames. Looking at this installation, I see how four centuries of history fit into a single glass display case,” Viktor Kruglov, CEO of the Ranok publishing house, said.

More Ukrainian publishers

Laboratory publishing house brought special English-language editions of its books, retaining their original Ukrainian design, to the fair so foreign publishers could see how they would look on bookshelves abroad. The publishing house also presented its 2026 Rights Catalogue, featuring contemporary Ukrainian authors. Anton Martynov, the founder of Laboratory Publishing, explained why this is important.

“For decades, we’ve been coming to Frankfurt primarily to buy rights, seek out international bestsellers, negotiate with agents and bring the best books to Ukrainian readers. Now we have to learn to go in the opposite direction — to sell Ukrainian books to the world.”

Osnovy Publishing left its separate stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair nearly empty to highlight the consequences of the Russian attack, which destroyed 40% of the publisher’s book inventory. Osnovy was awarded the stand through a special distinction from the Frankfurt Book Fair as part of the Chytomo Award.

Mystetskyi Arsenal was also presenting a separate stand, H120, in Pavilion 3.0. It is dedicated to the concept “Bear Your Freedom,” the focus theme of the 14th Book Arsenal, curated by Butkevych. The catalog of artist Olena Turyanska’s solo exhibition “Agape: Absolute Love” was presented for the first time. Participants in the events at the stand included Butkevych, writer and translator Eugenia Kuznetsova, American historian Marci Shore, and Polish poet and essayist Krzysztof Czyżewski.

“For us, this is an important platform that allows us to bring the Ukrainian voice to a vast audience: visitors, book industry professionals, writers, diplomats, politicians, and journalists,” Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, Director General of National Art and Culture Museum Complex “Mystetskyi Arsenal,” said.

For the fifth time, the Frankfurt Book Fair hosted a special program for publishers from Ukraine and neighboring countries. This year, the program received its own name: the VOLIA Program. It provides publishers, editors, rights managers and literary agents with opportunities to learn and network with international colleagues.

As a reminder, in September 2026, it was announced that Ukraine could become the guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair as early as 2030.

RELATED: Russian drone attack hit book warehouses amid losses for Ukraine’s publishing industry surpassing 10 million copies

Photos: Olena Odynoka / Facebook, Ranok, Viktor Kruglov / Facebook