‘They burned books, like the Nazis did 80 years ago’: Russia’s deadly attack on Ukraine’s biggest printing house | Ukraine
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OLena Ninadovska was in Ukraine’s largest printing house when the Russian missile hit. She worked in the bindery department. It was 10.20 in the morning. Two colleagues – Tetaina Hrapina and Olga Kurasova – stood next to her. The women worked a number of book sewing machines. Another employee, Sveta Arestova, had just stepped aside to take a phone call.
The S-300 missile went through the roof. There was no warning. It instantly killed Ninadovksa and the others at her workstation. Arestova was injured but survived. The explosion overturned a 10-ton book finishing machine, killing Svetlana Rizhenko, who was sitting at the end of the assembly line. Two more workers died at an adjacent table. Another, Roman Stroihi, was killed by pieces of the guillotine.
Seven people died in the attack on May 23 at the printing house of Factor Druk in Kharkiv. Twenty-one were injured. Nine remain in hospital. Two are in intensive care. The general director of the company, Tetiana Hrynyuk, said that the strike took place on a sunny Thursday on one of the the largest printing complexes in Europe. Kharkiv, the second city after Kyiv, is the publishing center of Ukraine.
At that time, Hryniuk was in a neighboring building. “I saw smoke and fire. Those near the epicenter didn’t stand a chance,” she said. “My memories are fragmentary. Everyone was in shock. I remember tying someone up with a t-shirt. Hryniuk said she identified Stroihi and Rizhenko when their bodies were removed from the wreckage. But five people, including Ninadovska, were so badly burned that they were unrecognizable.
“You couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. We needed DNA tests,” she said. Their remains were released last week. What did she say to the relatives of her deceased colleagues? “We hugged and cried together,” she replied. Post on Facebook, Anna Ginn honored Ninadowska, her murdered friend. “I’ve always loved the smell of books. Now they will probably always remind me of ashes and blood,” Ginn wrote.
Hrynyuk said she did not know whether the Russian military deliberately attacked her workplace or tried to hit a train repair shop next door. At the same time, three more S-300 missiles fell. One crashed on an old railroad track; another landed against a perimeter wall. Whatever Moscow’s intentions, the result, Hryniuk said, is the same: “They destroyed Ukrainian history and culture.”
In the occupied territories, the Kremlin has banned the Ukrainian language, removed textbooks from schools and imposed a patriotic pro-Russian curriculum. Statues of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko have been torn down. Vladimir Putin insists that Ukraine does not exist. His land, he says, is part of “historic Russia.”
The factory strike destroyed 50,000 books. They were among them works of children’s literature and Ukrainian school textbooks – 40% of which are printed by Faktor Druk – should be sent to classrooms for the new school year in September. Young adult novels and bestsellers were also destroyed. These include the Ukrainian translation of The wedding portraita historical novel about an Italian duchess by Maggie O’Farrell.
“It’s so symbolic to me. They burned books like the Nazis did 80 years ago. We have so many historical examples of Russia trying to kill Ukrainian culture,” said Oleksiy Sobol, head of the prepress department. The Russian Empire banned Ukrainian language texts from the 17th century onwards with subsequent decrees. Under Stalin in the 1930s, Ukrainian poets and writers were shot – a generation known as the “shot revival”.
As of 2022, Russia has deleted 172 libraries and nearly 2 million books, according to the Ukrainian Book Institute. Last week, workers cleared the rubble of the destroyed Factor Druk complex with an area of 4,000 square meters. It’s raining. Charred books were piled up in soggy yellow piles. Debris was everywhere: twisted sheets of roof, strewn ventilation pipes and charred printing presses. Blood was visible on the plastic door curtains.
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Also the entire first print run of the Words and bulletsa collection of interviews about the war with Ukrainian writers, incl Victoria Amelina. It was supposed to be posted this week. Amelina, writer and poet, was killed in June 2023 by a Russian missile strike in the eastern city of Kramatorsk. She was sitting in a pizzeria. A war crimes researcher, Amelina often refers to the executed renaissance in her work.
“The cycle of horror continues,” said Emma Shercliffe, Amelina’s literary agent in London. “This is further evidence that another generation of writers and cultural producers is being systematically targeted and eliminated.” Julia Orlova, CEO of Vivat, one of Ukraine’s leading publishers, said Moscow wanted to “erase who we are.” Vivat’s titles are printed at Factor Print. The work will continue, with production moving to other printers, she said.
Emily Feiner, who leads a research team working on Ukrainian children’s literature at the University of St Andrews, called the attack a tragedy. “The priority given to publishing children’s books about trauma in wartime Ukraine is unprecedented,” she said. “Over 120 picture books in Ukrainian have been printed since 2022 to help children cope with their wartime experiences now and in the future.”
The strike took place a week before Arsenal Book Festival, the biggest literary event in Kyiv. Many of the destroyed books were supposed to be sold there. This year, thousands lined up to enter. Burnt copies of Factor Druk’s titles were displayed under the motto: “Books destroyed by Russia. Support book Kharkiv – buy books!” Vivat’s booth was packed. Sales were brisk. Customers voiced support for an industry under fire.
“The message to Russia is: ‘Screw it.’ Now we will buy more books,” said Mikita Lazarenko, creative director. He said the mood among Ukrainians was one of angry defiance, similar to that displayed by New Yorkers after 9/11. Another customer, Igor Vinokurov, held up a bag of non-fiction titles. “We want to show the world that our culture is real and important. 30 years ago, we mostly had books in Russian. Now we read Ukrainian,” he said.
A day after the attack, the president of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky toured the Druk Factor site. He said it showed Russia was “at war with humanity and all aspects of normal life”. The Howard G Buffett Foundation, meanwhile, last week pledged €5.1m (£4.3m) to restore the printing house. “They can destroy books, but not Ukrainian resilience and commitment,” said Buffett, son of American billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Hrynyuk was confident that the work could be completed in six months. For now, however, Kharkiv has lost a significant part of its printing resources, which will make it difficult to print textbooks and other books. Three years ago, Factor Print produced more than a million books a year. In February 2022, when Russian soldiers tried unsuccessfully to take over the city, it was closed for four months. Last year it made 420,000 titles. Now it doesn’t print anything.
Hryniuk said he is nonetheless optimistic about the future. “We have one,” she said. She rejected Russian claims that Factor Druk produced drones. “We had hundreds of journalists here. They even checked the toilet. This is funny.” She added: “History shows that every 100 years someone tries to destroy Ukraine. Nevertheless, we continue to live. We can consider this as an ordinary stage of development.
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