The warehouse belonging to the Ranok publishing corporation was hit twice by drones at the same location, according to Ranok founder Viktor Kruglov. The facility also served as a distribution center for the KnyhoLand bookstore chain.
Kruglov said the attack appeared to be deliberately planned and targeted Ukrainian textbook production and the country’s publishing industry.
***
The scale of the destruction was extensive. According to Chytomo, around 600,000 textbooks, 28,000 book titles and approximately 8 million copies were destroyed in the resulting fire. Kruglov estimated the total losses at around 1 billion Ukrainian hryvnias.
The warehouse also stored books from numerous Ukrainian publishers, including Ranok, Fabula, READBERRY and Korali Books, as well as other companies within the RNK-Ranok group.
Tens of thousands of titles intended for distribution through KnyhoLand were also stored at the facility. The bookstore chain temporarily suspended online orders after the warehouse was engulfed in flames.
All employees were eventually accounted for after one female worker could initially not be reached following the attack, Kruglov said.
The destruction comes amid a series of recent Russian attacks that have hit Ukraine’s publishing and book distribution infrastructure.
On July 19, a strike destroyed a depot belonging to Knyholav, with around 250,000 books reportedly burned. Earlier, during a major attack on Kyiv on July 2, a warehouse operated by logistics partner of the BookChef publishing house was destroyed, resulting in the loss of about 800,000 books.
The latest strike represents another major blow to Ukraine’s publishing sector, with the Kharkiv warehouse serving not only as a storage facility but also as a key distribution hub for books produced by publishers across the country.
