Russian Shahed destroys warehouse of Ukrainian bookstores and publishers near Kyiv (Updated)

As a result of a Russian attack on the night of August 28 in Sviatopetrivske, Kyiv region, a warehouse storing books of Readeat, Vivat, and other Ukrainian publishers was destroyed. Readeat has temporarily suspended online order fulfillment, while publishers and distributors are counting losses and rebuilding logistics.

According to Readeat, thousands of books were dispatched daily from this warehouse across Ukraine. After the strike, the facility is destroyed.

The company reported that it currently cannot fulfill online orders. The team needs time to assess the aftermath of the attack and determine how to restore operations. Meanwhile, offline bookstores continue to operate.

Dmytro Feliksov, founder of Readeat and book distributor BookTicket, said that a Russian Shahed drone directly hit the warehouse where books of many Ukrainian publishers were stored.

According to him, the team has already set up an operational headquarters, is communicating with publishers and warehouse owners, rebuilding supply chains, and looking for new warehouse solutions.

Possible mechanisms for compensating lost products are being explored separately. The exact amount of losses is not yet disclosed.

Vivat books were stored at the warehouse

Publisher Vivat also reported significant losses. The destroyed warehouse contained, in particular, new releases and books by Ukrainian authors.

The publisher had managed to relocate some of its stock to Lviv in advance, as well as restock its own stores. However, a significant volume of products remained in Kyiv region.

Vivat explained that before the autumn festival "Book Country" the warehouse had accumulated many new releases and books by Ukrainian authors. After the fire, the publisher's participation in the festival is in question.

The company is still assessing the damage. According to its data, losses involve books at three warehouses: its own and partner facilities.

Books of many publishers were affected

The destroyed warehouse was used by more than one company. According to Feliksov, products of several Ukrainian publishers were stored there, so the consequences of the attack could affect a much larger part of the book market.

In the near future, companies will have to determine which print runs were destroyed, how much stock was saved at other locations, and how quickly supplies to bookstores and customers can be restored.

At the same time, companies emphasize that the most important thing is that no employees were hurt in the strike.

Book industry suffers major losses once again

The current attack is another blow to Ukraine's book infrastructure. Since the full-scale war began, Russian missiles and drones have repeatedly destroyed printing houses, publishing warehouses, and bookstores.

Feliksov called for establishing systemic support mechanisms for the industry after such attacks. Among possible tools, he mentioned state book purchases, subsidies, preferential lending, tax incentives, and targeted Ukrainian and European grants.

According to him, support is needed not only for publishers but also for printing houses, bookstores, and distributors, who after the destruction of stock have to effectively rebuild part of their logistics from scratch.

The strike on Sviatopetrivske itself was part of a large-scale Russian attack on August 28. In the same area, a Nova Poshta sorting depot was destroyed; after the first hit, Russian forces carried out repeated strikes on the location while firefighters were extinguishing the blaze.

Sources: Readeat, Dmytro Feliksov, Vivat