---
title: "Half of the annual print run in ashes: how Russian strikes on warehouses destroyed Ukrainian book publishing"
description: "Russian strikes on warehouses in Kyiv Oblast destroyed around 15 million books in two months — nearly half of Ukraine's annual print run. Publisher losses are estimated in the billions of hryvnias, and recovering the industry will take 3–5 years."
date: 2026-09-02T05:04:02.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/russian-strikes-destroy-half-of-ukraines-annual-book-output
tags: [ukraine-war, book-publishing, russian-attacks, kyiv-oblast, education, cultural-losses]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Half of the annual print run in ashes: how Russian strikes on warehouses destroyed Ukrainian book publishing

![Ukrainian publishers against the backdrop of destroyed book warehouses: the impact of Russian strikes on publishing](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/02/rossiyskie-udary-unichtozhili-polovinu-godovogo-tiraza-ukrainskikh-knig/rossiyskie-udary-unichtozhili-polovinu-godovogo-tiraza-ukrainskikh-knig-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- In two months, Russian strikes destroyed around 15 million books — nearly half of the annual volume of Ukrainian book publishing, including 9% of new school textbooks
- The August 28 strike on a Nova Poshta warehouse in Svyatopetrivske affected at least 30 publishers; Vivat estimates direct losses at 16.6 million UAH, the "Ranok" corporation at 1 billion UAH
- Recovering the industry will take 3–5 years; publishers are cutting print runs and staff, considering decentralization of warehouse logistics, and price increases are inevitable

In two months of hostilities, Russia has destroyed nearly half of Ukraine's annual book production volume. According to publisher estimates, total losses amount to 15 million copies, and among the burned print runs are 9% of the new school textbooks. On the night of August 28, 2026, a fresh Russian strike hit a Nova Poshta distribution center in Svyatopetrivske, Kyiv Oblast, where book stocks belonging to at least three dozen Ukrainian publishers and book retail chains were concentrated. As a result of the strike, Vivat, "Nash Format," "Ranok," "A-ba-ba-ga-la-ma-ga," "Knyholav," "Laboratoriya," BookChef and other companies were affected. This is not an isolated incident: on August 1, a Russian strike on a "Ranok" publishing warehouse destroyed around 10 million books, including more than a million textbooks for grades 4 and 9, and on August 28 the publisher sustained damage again.

### Scale of the losses: from 16.6 million hryvnias to a billion

Each affected publisher assesses the damage in its own way, but taken together the picture amounts to a systemic crisis for the industry. Yulia Orlova, CEO and co-founder of Vivat, reported that the company's direct losses from the strike on the warehouse in Svyatopetrivske amount to about 16.6 million hryvnias, however books belonging to other publishers and bookstores were also located at the same facility and suffered significant damage. The publisher is in negotiations with the management of the distribution center and Nova Poshta over compensation for part of the losses. Far larger figures are cited by the "Ranok" publishing corporation, which includes the imprints "Fabula," "Zhorg," "Redberry," VG Osnova, "Varvar-comix," "Korali" and "She odnu storinku." General Director Viktor Kruglov estimates the corporation's total losses at approximately 1 billion hryvnias. "To get back to our previous working volumes, it will take 3–5 years; most likely, not all titles will be reprinted. Because we will not reprint category C books in terms of turnover. But these could be critically important publications, such as popular science books on the exact sciences," Kruglov stated. The publisher's team has already agreed to cancel all bonuses and reduce salaries, and is in negotiations with banks over the first tranche of credit financing.

### The market shrinks: print runs, staff and prices

The consequences of the strikes go far beyond the burned print runs. The destruction of warehouse infrastructure, the decline in the population's purchasing power and the loss of working capital are forcing publishers to rethink their entire business model. "Some people are leaving the country, some are visiting shopping centers less often, for many books are becoming less affordable — demand is shrinking. Publishers are cutting print runs, receiving less working capital, and therefore investing less in new projects. Vivat is also forced to reduce its staff. For me this is one of the most painful decisions I have had to make in the past 14 years," Orlova said. Industry experts expect that in the coming months retail book prices will inevitably rise: increased logistics costs, the rising cost of binding and paper, as well as the need to reprint lost runs will be factored into the final price. At the same time, publishers do not yet record a mass shift of readers to the digital format — at Vivat, e-books account for around 5% of the paper print run in sales.

### Survival strategy: decentralization and abandoning export

One of the key decisions being discussed by publishers is the decentralization of fulfillment. Nova Poshta is already developing a corresponding system that allows large volumes of goods not to be concentrated in a single location. "But it is not enough simply to spread books across different warehouses. You need software, professional warehouse logistics and a system that will allow orders to be quickly assembled and shipped from different points," they note at Vivat. Orlova acknowledges that such an approach will increase the time and cost of logistics, however decentralizing warehouses is becoming one of the mechanisms for business survival in wartime conditions. Publishers do not plan to ship books abroad: Ukrainian book publishing enjoys a VAT tax benefit, whereas books imported from abroad are subject to taxation, which creates additional costs. Against the backdrop of September 1, publishers are also promoting support initiatives: the organization "Eksperyment" calls on readers to buy books and talk about them on social media, and Orlova herself suggests giving schoolchildren books rather than flowers, which will remain in school libraries.

### Contradictory data

All the key figures cited in this material are self-reports by the affected publishers and have not undergone independent audit. The estimate of "nearly half of the annual volume" and the combined "15 million copies" are given by publishers as expert approximations based on internal warehouse data. At the same time, the specific figures for individual companies (10 million books at "Ranok," 16.6 million hryvnias at Vivat, 800,000 books at BookChef, 60,000 at Readeat and Book.ua) collectively fit within the overall range, but their exact verification is currently impossible. In addition, the discrepancy in scale between the "15 million" claim and the sum of individually confirmed losses (around 11–12 million) may be explained by the fact that some publishers have not yet finished their tally, as well as by the fact that some runs were partially rather than fully destroyed. Until the data from an independent expert assessment is available, all figures should be regarded as preliminary.

Ukrainian book publishing is perhaps experiencing its heaviest blow since independence. But, as the publishers themselves emphasize, the industry is not about to stop. "We'll still fight," Yulia Orlova concludes, and in these words is probably reflected the general mood of the industry: not simply to wait it out, but to restructure logistics, revise print-run policy and stay in the market, despite the fact that half of the annual production has already turned to ash.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- ["We'll still fight." How publishers are saving books from strikes and why prices are bound to rise](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/mi-shche-poboremos-k-vidavnitstva-ryatuyut-1788275799.html) - Основной источник: цитаты Юлии Орловой (Vivat) и Виктора Круглова («Ранок»), данные о потерях, стратегии децентрализации, сокращении штатов. Даты атак (1 и 28 августа) подтверждены.
- [More than 60,000 books of Readeat and Book.ua destroyed: consequences of the Russian attack on Kyiv Oblast](https://zn.ua/CULTURE/unichtozheno-bolee-60-tysjach-knih-readeat-i-bookua-posledstvija-ataki-rf-na-kievskuju-oblast.html) - Подтверждает факт атаки на Киевскую область и конкретные потери Readeat/Book.ua (60 000+ книг), что согласуется с общей картиной.
- [Russian strike on Kyiv destroyed around 800,000 books](https://zn.ua/war/rossijskij-udar-po-kievu-unichtozhil-okolo-800-tys-knih-bookchef.html) - Подтверждает факт атаки на Киевскую область и конкретные потери Readeat/Book.ua (60 000+ книг), что согласуется с общей картиной.
- [Russia struck a publisher's warehouse and one of the largest book retail chains (video)](https://www.unian.net/society/rosiya-udarila-po-skladu-knizhnogo-izdatelstva-i-odnoy-iz-krupneyshih-knizhnyh-setey-novosti-harkova-13458000.html) - Независимое подтверждение факта удара по складу издательства и книжной сети. Видео-фиксация инцидента.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: How many books were destroyed as a result of Russian strikes on Ukrainian warehouses?
**A:** According to publisher estimates, total losses over two months reach around 15 million copies — nearly half of Ukraine's annual book production volume. The "Ranok" corporation alone lost about 10 million books, BookChef around 800,000, and Readeat and Book.ua more than 60,000. All figures are self-reports by the publishers and have not undergone independent audit.

### Q: Which publishers were affected by the August 28 strike?
**A:** As a result of the attack on the Nova Poshta distribution center in Svyatopetrivske, Kyiv Oblast, at least 30 publishers and bookstores were affected, including Vivat, "Nash Format," "Ranok," "A-ba-ba-ga-la-ma-ga," "Knyholav," "Laboratoriya," BookChef and others.

### Q: How long will it take to recover the book industry?
**A:** Viktor Kruglov, General Director of the "Ranok" corporation, estimates the time to return to previous working volumes at 3–5 years. At the same time, some publications (category C books in terms of turnover) may not be reprinted at all.

### Q: Will Ukrainian readers switch en masse to e-books?
**A:** According to data from the Vivat publisher, no mass shift to the digital format is observed yet: the share of e-books in sales is about 5% of the paper print run. Ukrainian readers still prefer print editions.

### Q: Will book prices in Ukraine rise?
**A:** Yes, experts and the publishers themselves expect price increases. The reasons are: increased logistics costs due to the decentralization of warehouses, the rising cost of binding and paper, the need to reprint lost runs, as well as the reduction of publishers' working capital.