A Russian attack on Kyiv overnight destroyed a printing plant that was in the process of turning out 1.3 million school text books, about 10% of the total required, just before the start of the academic school year which gets underway on Tuesday. File photo by Maxym Marusenko/EPA
Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A Russian attack on Kyiv overnight destroyed a printing plant that was in the process of turning out 1.3 million school text books, about 10% of the total required, ahead of the start of the academic school year on Tuesday.
The blast and resulting blaze damaged the Konvi Group faciliity and printing presses beyond repair and reduced a large stockpile of books to ashes while printed material that was not burned was water damaged or otherwise rendered unusable.
It was the second strike on the company's facilities in six weeks with Konvi Commercial Director Viktoriia Haida telling the BBC that it was part of a concerted Russian effort targeting Ukraine's national identity.
"I believe it is deliberate on the part of the Russian Federation. Over the past two months, some of the largest publishing houses have lost their logistics warehouses, where very large quantities of books were stored. The Russians are also destroying printing houses in an attempt to erase Ukraine as a nation. But frankly they will not succeed," said Haida.
