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Top Russian Officers Indicted for Strike on Ukraine’s Largest Printing House
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The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has formally notified several high-ranking Russian military officials of suspicion regarding a missile strike on the Factor-Druk printing house in Kharkiv.
The attack took place on May 23, 2024. According to the investigation, the Russian commanders ordered the strike despite knowing the facility was a civilian site.
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Investigators from the SBU and military intelligence gathered evidence against four top officers who organized the aerial assault. The report states that the Russian forces intentionally targeted the printing plant using three S-300 guided missiles. The facility was the largest of its kind in Ukraine and had no military purpose.
The strike resulted in the deaths of seven civilians and left more than 20 others injured. General Prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko noted the scale of the civilian operation, explaining that the plant printed millions of books, magazines, and newspapers annually.
The attack led to the destruction of tens of thousands of books, including children's literature and school textbooks.
The Ukrainian authorities identified Colonel-General Aleksey Kim, Lieutenant-General Andrey Tsyganov, Vice-Admiral Aleksandr Peshkov, and Colonel Sergey Monetov as the individuals responsible for the operation. Each officer played a specific role in ordering the strike, coordinating the missile systems, and providing intelligence on the target.
The missiles were launched by a specialized tactical group formed from the 76th Air Defense Division of the Russian Armed Forces. Based on the findings, the SBU issued charges under the Criminal Code of Ukraine for violating the laws and customs of war. Efforts to locate and hold the suspects accountable are currently ongoing.
During the broader attack on May 23, Russian forces fired a total of 15 missiles at Kharkiv and the surrounding region. The destruction at Factor-Druk included the workshop of the Vivat publishing house. All of the casualties from the strike were employees of the printing facility.
"'Factor-Druk' did not have any military significance. This enterprise annually printed up to 50 million books, 100 million magazines and 300 million newspapers. As a result of the Russian strike, tens of thousands of books were destroyed—children's editions, fiction, school textbooks," stated the Prosecutor General.
"The launch of rockets was carried out by servicemen of special tactical rocket group No. 3, which was created on the basis of the 568th anti-aircraft rocket regiment of the 76th air defense division of the 14th army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Central Military District of the Russian Federation Armed Forces," the SBU statement said.
The reconstruction of the Factor-Druk printing house was made possible through the support of American philanthropist Howard Buffett, who reached out to the facility's owner, Serhii Polituchyi, shortly after the attack.
Minister of Economic Development and Trade Yuliia Svyrydenko announced the completion of the restoration on March 20, 2025, sharing photos of the newly rebuilt site. Before the strike destroyed over 50,000 books, the enterprise had operated for 28 years and handled printing for approximately 90% of all Ukrainian publishers.
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