Russia struck a warehouse containing textbooks again
A Russian attack damaged a warehouse for educational materials in Kharkiv, where textbooks prepared for Ukrainian schools were stored. The fire covered an area of more than 9,000 square meters. Minister of Education and Science Andriy Butenko stated that electronic versions of the textbooks will be available to all students, and the losses of paper copies are still being tallied.
Russia attacked Ukrainian cities again overnight. Among the targets was an educational materials warehouse where textbooks—already printed and prepared for shipment to schools—were stored. According to preliminary reports, two “Shahed” rockets struck the warehouse. A massive fire broke out after the strike, covering an area of more than 9,000 square meters.
This was reported by Minister of Education and Science Andriy Butenko. He noted that the exact extent of the losses is still being determined. “Last night, Russia struck Ukrainian cities again… One of the targets was a warehouse for educational materials, where textbooks printed and packaged for schools were stored. According to preliminary data, two Shahid rockets struck the facility. The fire covered an area of over 9,000 square meters. We will assess the extent of the losses together with the publishing house and the Institute for the Modernization of Educational Content,” Butenko wrote.
According to the minister, this is already the second such attack in the last two weeks. In July, a Russian strike destroyed more than 410,000 textbooks that were supposed to be distributed to schoolchildren this year.
Butenko stated that attacks on warehouses and printing plants deal a blow not only to books but also to Ukrainian education. “Warehouses and printing plants are being deliberately targeted—along with the printed materials, they are trying to destroy the Ukrainian language, history, and memory—everything that shapes our children’s identity,” the minister emphasized.
At the same time, he assured that students will not be left without access to educational materials. “I want to emphasize this separately: electronic versions of textbooks will be available to all students,” Butenko said. According to him, the Ministry of Education and Science is doing everything possible to ensure the school year begins on time. The ministry is also working to prevent Russian attacks from disrupting the educational process.
What is known about the latest attack
On Saturday, it was reported that Russian shelling of Kharkiv had damaged the warehouses of the “Ranok” publishing house. Textbooks were destroyed in the resulting fire. This is not the first time that Russian attacks have caused significant losses to Ukrainian publishing houses and printing plants. On the night of July 19, a Russian strike destroyed a warehouse belonging to the “Knygolav” publishing house. Approximately 250,000 books were lost in that incident.
That attack also destroyed the MISON publishing house and damaged the office of the “Ark.Uey” publishing house in Kyiv. In a separate incident, a Russian attack destroyed the printing plant of the “Konvi” group. Nearly 250,000 textbooks and about 350,000 pre-printed sheets for future publications were destroyed there.
The exact losses following the latest strike on the educational literature warehouse are still being assessed. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science assures that students will have access to digital versions of the necessary textbooks. Butenko wrote about this on Facebook.
On the night of August 1, Russia launched a massive ballistic missile attack on Kyiv. Several of the strikes were captured on the body cameras of patrol officers who were assisting people at the impact sites at the time.
