There may have been more libraries affected by the Russian invasion, but so far not all local governments have provided information.
As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, approximately 60 libraries were damaged or destroyed, and nearly 4,000 libraries were occupied. This was stated by Oleksandra Koval, director of the Ukrainian Book Institute, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, we do not have complete information. We know that four public libraries were destroyed, of which two were regional: Chernihiv – for youth and Donetsk – for children. The buildings of 35 libraries in various other regions were also damaged. In addition, in Mariupol, where there is no data, we can assume that all the libraries were destroyed and damaged, it was almost 20 libraries, “Koval said.
Koval believes there may be more libraries affected by the Russian invasion, but so far not all local governments have provided information.
“I saw in the news stories how the Russians entered the libraries, dug up all the books in the Ukrainian language and took them to where. But now is not a very good time to collect such statistics, because it changes the situation every time. But what the Ukrainian occupiers see Literature is a threat in itself – it testifies to the power of books. Books are a weapon: either defensive or offensive, “Koval said. .
The PEC director had no data on the damaged bookstores.
It was previously reported that more than 100 million books were planned to be withdrawn from Ukrainian libraries.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.