Millions of Ukrainian books incinerated in Russian drone strike — as Vladimir Putin looks to wipe out Urkaine’s culture, identity

A Russian drone set fire to a Kharkiv publishing house warehouse, incinerating millions of books Saturday — part of a systematic book-burning campaign by Vladimir Putin to erase Ukrainian identity.
One man was injured in the attack on one of Ukraine’s top publisher’s 108,000-square-foot warehouse, The Kyiv Independent reported.
The losses suffered from the devastating blaze could be close to $7 million, Ranok Publishing House General Director Viktor Kruglov told Ukrainian outlet Suspilne Kharkiv.
“It was a targeted hit at one point. It was not a random, but a targeted strike on the book warehouse,” Kruglov said.
“All the employees are alive. It is impossible to go inside the warehouse now, because the temperature is hundreds of degrees, everything is burning brightly.”
Kruglov said that “several millions” of books were destroyed in the strike — including many children’s textbooks — meaning many schools will not receive textbooks in time for the start of the school year.
KnyhoLand, a major Ukrainian bookstore chain, also used the warehouse for storage and was forced to stop accepting orders as a result.
“Everything is on fire. As of now, we are stopping accepting orders on the website. … Take care of yourself and your loved ones,” KnyhoLand Director Igor Zarudko posted on Facebook.
More than 1.5 million books had already been destroyed in strikes on the Ukrainian book industry in July, as the Kremlin wages its campaign to destroy the country’s national identity, according to the Ukrainian Book Institute.
The largest attack on the Ukrainian publishing industry saw some 900,000 books destroyed on July 2, while as many as 250,000 books were burned in a July 19 blitz on Kyiv.
The latest attack came amid of a ballistic missile and drone onslaught on Kyiv, which killed at least nine people and injured 22.
Debris from the attacks damaged a five-story residential building in the country’s capital killing two and wounding eight as 35 people from the upper floors were evacuated.
July marked the single deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since the war began — with at least 377 civilians killed and 2,129 others injured.
Meanwhile, Kyiv is also under threat from Russia’s allies in Tehran, after a Ukrainian strike on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea killed a sailor last week.
““The Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with the fundamental principles and rules of international law, especially the principle of legitimate defense, will not hesitate to defend its national interests and security,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at the time.