Russia destroyed 13 million Ukrainian books this summer, culture minister says

She made the statement during a televised broadcast, according to a Ukrinform correspondent. “At the Ministry of Culture, we are working to develop Ukrainian culture and the publishing industry and to help Ukrainian publishers recover from Russian attacks. Let me remind you that 13 million books were destroyed this summer alone,” Berezhna said. She noted that the Ministry of Culture and the government were developing several programs to support domestic publishers. Berezhna also confirmed that a book-related component would be added next year to the president’s Thousand Springs initiative. She said it had not yet been decided which publishing projects would be eligible for the competition.