The winter Ukraine endured: almost 800 libraries, bookstores, and former Pushkin Museum damaged

Ukraine’s cultural infrastructure has suffered a series of blows since the start of the year.

On Jan. 1, a Russian missile strike damaged the National Writers’ Union of Ukraine’s premises on Bankova Street in central Kyiv. Less than a month later, on Jan. 31, a Russian ballistic missile strike hit downtown Odesa, damaging a branch of the Odesa Literary Museum, previously known as the Oleksandr Pushkin Literary Memorial Museum. 

More strikes that occurred overnight between Feb. 28 and March 1, targeted three Kharkiv districts. Among the damaged properties were bookstores operated by the Knygoland and Family Leisure Club chains (KSD), as well as the Triada-Pak printing house.

The damage to the printing house and the Knygoland bookstores was reported by the chain’s director, Ihor Zarudko.

Knygoland / Photo: Ihor Zarudko

“During the massive Shahed drone attack on Kharkiv on Feb. 28, one of our bookstores was damaged by the blast wave—windows shattered, parts of the ceiling collapsed, and many books were destroyed. Another Knygoland bookstore in a different district was also affected—some internal shelves and books fell because of a strong blast tremor. We are cleaning up and continuing to work,” Zarudko wrote.

He added that the bookstore is currently assessing the damage, noting that some books will have to be completely disposed of as a result of shattered glass embedded in them from the explosions.

He accused Russia of deliberately targeting cultural institutions after the two Knyholand stores in Kharkiv were damaged over the weekend.

“Russia continues to deliberately target bookstores, printing houses, libraries and other cultural institutions because they influence not only the development of education and culture, they also strengthen our national identity,” Zarudko said.

The attack marked the fifth and sixth times that Russian forces have hit Knygoland stores since 2022.

The Triada-Pak printing house likewise suffered shattered windows, as well as damage to the roof, fence, office spaces, and part of the equipment. Printing material losses were also reported. Fortunately, no employees were injured. 

Triada-Pak printing house / Triada-Pak Facebook page

The printing house urged people to help their recovery by purchasing books from the publishers they work with, including Ranok, Fabula, The Old Lion Publishing House, A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA, Vivat, and others. “Visit bookstores, buy Ukrainian books—they preserve our culture and strength. Together, we are strong!” the printing house emphasized on its webpage.

The media outlet Suspilne also reported damage to the KSD bookstore in the city. According to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, 12 people were injured in the attack.

As reported earlier, the industry suffered greatly after last year’s attack on the Factor Druk printing house. 

Russian forces have previously targeted key printing industry facilities, including Unisoft, which was damaged by artillery shelling. They also launched a missile strike on the Hurov and Co. printing house in March 2024. In July 2022, the occupiers heavily damaged the House of Printing, almost destroying it, and struck the logistics center of the Ranok publishing house.

Ukrainian National Writers’ Union / Mykhailyna Skoryk Facebook page

According to the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, since Feb. 24, 2022, Russian shelling has damaged or destroyed 2,205 cultural infrastructure sites, including 790 Ukrainian libraries. The Kharkiv region has suffered the most, with 325 cultural sites affected.

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Copy editing: Ben Angel