The Russian full-scale invasion has resulted in the destruction or damage of nearly 1,000 libraries across Ukraine, according to the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremin. 

Since 2022, Russian forces have targeted and destroyed numerous cultural landmarks, libraries, museums, and educational institutions across Ukraine. The Russian authorities also imposed Russian-language curriculums in the occupied regions, which promote narratives that deny Ukrainian sovereignty and attempt to erase historical and cultural distinctions between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian attacks led to the widespread devastation and loss of over 200 million Ukrainian books, Kremin reports. 

Kremin has initiated a project called “The Free Read in Ukrainian!” to address this crisis. The initiative aims to replenish library collections, particularly in the heavily affected oblasts of Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Sumy. These areas are in urgent need of various types of literature in Ukrainian, including fiction, educational, and historical works.

Different Ukrainian organizations and schools across the country would be able to join the initiative to collect books for these libraries. 

“Our goal is to restore library collections to the maximum extent and establish this as a state priority,” Kremin stated.

In May, a Russian missile attack destroyed a printing house in Kharkiv, killing seven workers and burning 50,000 books, mostly children’s materials. The destroyed printing house, Faktor-Druk, was associated with Vivat Publishing and produced educational and children’s content. 

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