august 31, 2026

2262Цю статтю можна прочитати українською

Russia attacks Ukraine every day, killing people and destroying civilian infrastructure. It seeks to turn Ukraine into a wasteland.

The Russian army also seeks to destroy Ukrainian culture. That is why its targets are not only our homes, businesses, power plants, shopping centres, and warehouses. Ukrainian books are also its targets.

On the night of 28 August, Ukrainian publishing houses once again reported that their warehouses had been burned down, along with tens of thousands of books.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, over the summer of 2026 alone, Russia has already destroyed more than 10 million Ukrainian books. This amounts to one-third of Ukraine’s annual book production. These include works by Ukrainian authors as well as books translated into Ukrainian from dozens of foreign languages.

Why does the Russian army destroy Ukrainian books? Because it knows that reading is the foundation of culture and meaning. Books shape our values, our ways of thinking, our cultural memory, our identity, and our sense of community. They are also a foundation of national education — and the new school year in Ukraine begins in just a few days.

Russia is waging war not only against Ukrainians. It is waging war against the very possibility of being Ukrainian. It seeks to destroy Ukrainian identity and Ukrainian self-awareness.

This has happened before, many times. For centuries, the empire killed Ukrainian writers, destroyed Ukrainian books, and sought to deny us the right to speak our own language, read our own literature, and translate works from other literatures into our own language. Russia has done — and continues to do — the same to dozens of other cultures it has subjugated.

We call on the Ukrainian state to support the publishing industry.

We call on Ukrainian citizens to buy Ukrainian books more actively.

We call on the international community to provide Ukraine with modern defensive weapons, particularly those urgently needed to protect Ukrainian skies. We also call for joint efforts to hold representatives of the Russian Federation criminally accountable for committing international crimes.

We call for more consistent engagement of international partners in providing financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, including support for Ukrainian publishers and booksellers.

We ask the international community to urgently help Ukraine in its struggle for survival.

Ukraine’s struggle today is not only a struggle for independence. It is also a struggle for our culture.

It is a struggle for culture itself.

Statement signed:

01. Volodymyr Yermolenko

Philosopher, president of PEN Ukraine

02. Myroslav Marynovych

Honorary President of PEN Ukraine

03. Mykola Riabchuk

writer, honorary president of PEN Ukraine

04. Ola Hnatiuk

Professor, author, translator, activist, Kyiv Mohyla Academy

05. Oleksandra Matviichuk

Head of the Center for Civil Liberties

06. Vitaly Portnikov

Journalist

07. Pavlo Korobchuk

Writer, serviceman

08. Maryna Ponomarenko

Poet

09. Dmytro Lazutkin

Poet

10. Tetyana Ogarkova

Literary scholar, associate professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

11. Svitlana Povalyaeva

artist

12. Sasha Dovzhyk

Head of INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange

13. Halyna Vdovychenko

writer

14. Mariana Savka

Poet, publisher and founder of The Old Lion Publishing House

15. Volodymyr Arenev

Writer, screenwriter, teacher

16. Anna Gruver

Writer, poet, translator

17. Valentyna Merzhyievska

Educator

18. Viacheslav Levytskyi

Poet, translator, literary scholar

19. Kateryna Yehorushkina

Writer

20. Vakhtang Kebuladze

Philosopher, writer, translator

21. Artem Chekh

Writer

22. Olya Rusina

Writer, culture manager

23. Lesyk Panasiuk

Poet, translator, military service member

24. Yuliya Musakovska

Poet, writer and translator

25. Vasyl Makhno

Writer

26. Valeriy Puzik

Artist, writer

27. Yevgeniy Zakharov

Human Rights Defender

28. Kateryna Zarembo

Writer, service woman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

29. Аndriy Kurkov

Author

30. Halya Coynash

Journalist

31. Roksolana Sviato

literary translator, critic

32. Alina Sarnayska

Veteran, writer

33. Anatoliy Dnistrovyi

Author

34. Hanna Yanovska

translator

35. Yaryna Grusha

Author and translator

36. Mark Livin

In Simple Words Media

37. Volodymyr Byehlov

Journalist, Cultural Manager

38. Oleksii Nikitin

writer

39. Gosovska Marta

Translator, Editor-in-Chief of the Foreign Literature in Laboratoria Publishing House

40. Ivan Andrusiak

poet, editor

41. Andriy Pavlyshyn

historian, translator

42. Oleksandra Koval

Ukrainian Book Institute, director

43. Iryna Starovoyt

poet, dean of the Humanities at UCU

44. Konstantine Sigov

Director of the Dukh i Litera publishing house (Spirit and Letter) and Professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

45. Olesia Mamchych

Poet, editor, translator

46. Oleksandr Mymruk

writer, journalist, editor, Head of NGO ‘Chytomo’

47. Anastasia Levkova

writer, editor

48. Mykhailo Zharzhailo

poet

49. Serhii Plokhii

Professor Harvard University

50. Iryna Kupchynska

Writer, social anthropologist

51. Olena Stiazhkina

Historian, writer

52. Stepan Protsiuk

Writer

53. Haska Shyyan

writer

54. Anna Vovchenko

literary translator, PEN Ukraine’s program manager

55. Artem Chapeye

Writer, Ukrainian soldier

56. Tetyana Teren

journalist, cultural manager

57. Bohdana Matiyash

Writer, translator

58. Alla Tyutyunnyk

Writer, Screenwriter

59. Borys Khersonskyi

Poet, psychotherpyst

60. Oles Ilchenko

writer

61. Oleksandr Komarov

62. Vitaly Chernetsky

Literary scholar, translator; Professor, University of Kansas

63. Kateryna Botanova

Author, curator

64. Halyna Kruk

Writer, scholar

65. Alla Tatarenko

translator

66. Iryna Nikolaichuk

Literary scholar, literary critic, Editor-in-chief of Creative Women Publishing house

67. Eleonora Solovey

Doktor of Filology, professor

68. Olha Kupriian

Writer

69. Romana Romanyshyn

author, illustrator, designer

70. Andriy Lesiv

art historian, designer, art studio Agrafka

71. Natalka Bilotserkivets

Poet

72. Mariia Tytarenko

writer, media researcher

73. Liudmyla Taran

Writer Journalist

74. Iryna Slavinska

Journalist, writer

75. Iya Kiva

Poet, translator, Pen Ukraine

76. Jurko Prochasko

Author, translator, member of PEN Ukraine, member of the German academy of language and literature; National University of Lviv

77. Josef Zissels

Member of the Initiative Group “First of December”

78. Taras Luchuk

PEN Ukraine

79. Olha Luchuk

Associate Professor, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

80. Rostyslav Kuzyk

Poet, cultural manager, head of Lviv Art Library

81. Natalia Belchenko

writer

82. Askold Melnyczuk

Professor, UMass Boston; Editor, Arrowsmith Press

83. Victor Morozov

translator, member of Ukrainian PEN

84. Olena Rybka

85. Oksana Lutsyshyna

writer

86. Tetyana Pylypchuk

Kharkiv Literary museum

87. Zoya Kazanzhy

Head of Strategic Communications and Partnerships, Mnozhyna Foundation

88. Váno Krueger

Poet, Philosopher, Essayist

89. Orysia Hrudka

Journalist, communications manager

90. Maksym Bespalov

Writer, serviceman

91. Mykola Semena

journalist

92. Olha Olkhova

Poet, cultural manager

93. Olha Mukha

culture analyst

94. Yuliia Paievska

Chartiya Corps, PEN Ukraine

95. Stanislav Fedorchuk

Veteran, columnist, political analyst

96. Teodozia Zarivna

Writer

97. Taras Voznyak

Chef Editor of Magazine “Ї”

98. Yulita Ran

Writer, playwright, screenwriter

https://pen.org.ua/en/rosiya-masovo-znyscshuye-ukrayinski-knyzhky-zayava-ukrayinskoho-pen