Moscow Now Targeting Ukrainian Publishers and Books as Part of Effort to Destroy Ukrainian Culture, Butchenko Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 21 – In the midst of the horrific destruction of Ukrainian cities wrought by Russian rockets, few have noted that among Moscow’s targets are publishers of Ukrainian books, Maksim Butchenko says; but in the last month alone, Russian missiles have destroyed many printing presses and at least 1.4 million books.

            The NV journalist says that Russia is doing this  not by accident as some might think but as part of a concerted effort to destroy Ukrainian national culture; and he calls on all people of good will first to recognize this threat and then work to counter it (nv.ua/opinion/obstrel-kieva-19-iyulya-rossiya-unichtozhaet-ukrainskie-knigi-za-mesyac-utracheno-1-4-mln-ekzemplyarov-50625849.html).

            “When four key objects of book infrastructure burn in less than 30 days” as a result of Russian attacks and when among the ashes are new textbooks on the history of Ukraine,” Butchenko says, no one should dismiss this as an accident of the kind that often happens in wartime.

            According to the journalist, “Russia is fighting not only against our army – it is fighting against our memory. Moscow exported museum funds from Kherson, burned libraries in the occupied territories, threw Ukrainian books out of schools, replacing them with its own methods. Strikes on printing houses simply continue the same logic, but in other ways.”

            And he is blunt in his assessment of where things stand now: “The front of this cultural war is not marked on any battle map; but it exists and we are now losing it.”

            Government support for rebuilding publishing houses and book stores is as important as rebuilding housing. Indeed over the longer haul, it may be even more important because it is about saving not just this or that family but about saving the cultural heritage of Ukraine.

            “If we want the Ukrainian book to survive this war,” Butchenko concludes, “we can’t wait until after victory or until the next budget year. Instead, we must act now while the heart of culture is still beating.” Otherwise, Russia will gain a victory larger than on any other battlefield.