As of September 15, 2026, 88% of the planned print run of textbooks for Grade 9 students has been delivered to Ukrainian educational institutions. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing a post by the Ministry of Education and Science on Facebook. As the ministry emphasizes, such figures were achieved despite regular Russian strikes on publishers, warehouses, and logistics chains, which forced part of the print run to be reprinted after production facilities were destroyed.
The scale of printing in 2026
In the current academic year, 13.5 million copies of textbooks are being printed for Ukrainian schoolchildren. New books will be received by students in Grades 4 and 9, including children with special educational needs. More than 3.7 million new textbooks have been allocated for fourth graders, the bulk of which is scheduled to be delivered by October 1. Until then, students can use the 2021 editions already available in schools.
Why Grade 9 students are a priority
The priority supply of Grade 9 students is explained by the fact that this academic year they are studying for the first time under the new State Standard of basic secondary education as part of the "New Ukrainian School" reform. That is why logistics and printing for Grade 9 were brought to the forefront, and by September 15 it was possible to cover 88% of schools' needs.
Damage from attacks and reprinting of destroyed editions
The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) explained that the printing and delivery timelines for part of the print run were adjusted due to Russian attacks on publishing facilities. According to the ministry, 43% of the destroyed editions have already been reprinted to date. It was previously reported that in the summer Russia destroyed around 15 million books — nearly half of the annual printing volume. Publishers are forced to disperse their warehouses and seek investment for recovery, and the industry reports a possible shortage of certain books, a narrowing of the range, and rising prices. Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Serhiy Haidai instructed the MES to ensure schoolchildren with electronic textbooks; PDF versions of the new editions are already available online for all students and teachers.
Contradictory data
The official MES statistics on the delivery of 88% of the Grade 9 print run and the reprinting of 43% of destroyed editions coexist with another side of the picture: according to media reports, publishers that failed to deliver textbooks to schools on time face million-dollar fines. This means that the remaining 12% of the print run is distributed unevenly — some schools are already fully supplied, while certain regions and publishers are still catching up with the deadlines. Thus, the overall figure of 88% does not rule out local delays, for which financial sanctions may be applied to suppliers.
The situation demonstrates how military pressure on the book-publishing infrastructure translates into practical tasks for schools and the ministry: from reprinting and dispersing warehouses to an accelerated transition to electronic formats. For Grade 4 students, the transition period until October 1 is partially offset by the existing 2021 editions, while online access to PDF versions serves as a safety mechanism in case of further logistics disruptions.
