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Russia’s Attacks Destroys 60,000 Books at Sumy State University Library
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![Photo of Liubava Petriv]( "Photo of Liubava Petriv")
A Russian strike on Sumy overnight on August 18 caused a fire that destroyed the library in one of the buildings of Sumy State University, local media Suspilne Sumy reported on August 20, citing library director Olha Krytska. The Ukrainian Book Institute also confirmed the information.
According to Krytska, the blaze consumed around 15,000 books, most of them modern titles purchased over the past five or six years.
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“Despite the war, despite the difficulties, we continued to build our collections and buy new textbooks. Recently, there was a huge demand from students and staff for modern Ukrainian literature and books for self-development, so we actively expanded our collection with such titles. Unfortunately, everything has been destroyed; not a single book could be saved. Only ashes remain,” Krytska said.
She added that the library had also recently received foreign publications from the University of Liverpool as part of an exchange program. An exhibition of these volumes had been planned, but they too were lost in the fire.
Suspilne Sumy also published a photo of the library in Building “N” of Sumy State University, noting that, according to the library director, the university lost 45,000 books at the Congress Center in April 2025. Russian leader Vladimir Putin later acknowledged the attack, justifying it by claiming that “an award ceremony was taking place there for those who committed crimes in Kursk region.”
Previously, it was reported that Russian forces carried out another massive drone strike on the city of Okhtyrka in Ukraine’s Sumy region, injuring at least 12 people, including two children.
