Jannatul Firdaus
JF-Expert Member
- Aug 4, 2026
- 446
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Viktoria Haidai anatazama kwa huzuni mabaki yaliyoharibiwa ya mashine za uchapishaji ambazo zilipaswa kuwa zikifanya kazi kwa kasi kuchapisha vitabu vya kiada kwa ajili ya mwaka mpya wa shule.
Kiwanda hicho kilichopo pembezoni mwa Kyiv, Ukraine, kilishambuliwa usiku na kombora la Urusi wakati uzalishaji ukiwa unaongezwa kwa lengo la kuchapisha vitabu milioni 1.3, sawa na asilimia 10 ya vitabu vya shule vinavyotumika nchini humo.
Miongoni mwa majivu hayo kulipatikana ukurasa ulioungua wa kitabu cha kiada cha lugha ya Kiingereza uliokuwa na maneno: “Jina langu ni William, ninatoka Uingereza. Bibi yangu anaishi Nottingham. Ni mji mzuri.”
Urusi imeendelea kushambulia mitambo ya uchapishaji na kampuni za uchapishaji kote Ukraine katika mfululizo wa mashambulizi ya hivi karibuni, hatua ambazo zimesababisha kuharibiwa kwa vitabu milioni 12, pamoja na kuathiri alama nyingine muhimu za historia na utamaduni wa Ukraine.
Vyombo vya habari vya ndani vimeripoti kwamba Urusi imeharibu takribani theluthi moja ya vitabu vyote vilivyochapishwa nchini Ukraine mwaka huu.
Katika kiwanda hicho cha Kyiv, hakuna kitu kinachoonekana kuweza kuokolewa. Hata kurasa zilizonusurika moto zimeharibika kutokana na maji yaliyotumika kuzima moto au kuingia kupitia paa lililoporomoka.
“Ninaamini hili linafanywa kwa makusudi na Shirikisho la Urusi,” alisema Haidai, ambaye ni mkurugenzi wa biashara wa kampuni ya uchapishaji ya Konvi.
Amesema katika kipindi cha miezi miwili iliyopita, baadhi ya kampuni kubwa zaidi za uchapishaji zimepoteza maghala yao ya usafirishaji, ambako kulikuwa kuhifadhiwa idadi kubwa ya vitabu.
“Warusi pia wanaharibu nyumba za uchapishaji katika jaribio la kuifuta Ukraine kama taifa. Lakini kwa kweli, hawatafanikiwa,” alisema Haidai.
Zaidi ya maeneo 35 ya uchapishaji yamekuwa yakilengwa katika wiki za hivi karibuni.
Lakini si kurasa mpya pekee zinazoshambuliwa. Soko la vitabu vilivyotumika la Pochaina, Kyiv, pia lilishambuliwa, na kusababisha mamia ya vibanda vya wafanyabiashara kuangamia pamoja na vitabu vingi vya thamani vilivyokuwa vimehifadhiwa kwa miaka.
Kabla hata wazima moto hawajamaliza kuzima moto huo, nilimkuta Liliya Velyka, mwanablogu wa vitabu mwenye umri wa miaka 28, akichambua mabaki yaliyokuwa bado yakifuka moshi akitafuta kuona kama kuna chochote kinachoweza kuokolewa. Alikuwa ameshikilia nakala iliyolowa maji ya riwaya ya kisayansi.
“Vitabu vinatuokoa, na kuvipoteza ni sawa na kupoteza mioyo yetu,” alisema.
Makumbusho, majumba ya sanaa, studio za filamu, maktaba na majengo ya opera pia yameharibiwa.
Katika Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, monasteri kubwa ya zamani iliyojengwa katika zama za kati na ambayo ni sehemu muhimu ya urithi wa kitamaduni wa Ukraine, magofu ya dhahabu ya Kanisa Kuu la Dormition yalilengwa.
Vitu vya kidini vilihamishwa na kuwekwa katika maeneo salama, lakini sehemu kubwa ya paa la jengo hilo iliteketea baada ya shambulio la ndege isiyokuwa na rubani (drone). Inakadiriwa kuwa ukarabati wake utagharimu dola milioni 11.2, sawa na takribani pauni milioni 8.2, na utachukua muda wa karibu miaka miwili.
Eneo hilo pia lina Makumbusho ya Vitabu na Uchapishaji ya Ukraine. UNESCO iliingiza eneo hilo kwenye orodha yake ya urithi wa dunia mwaka 1990, na Septemba 2023 ikaongeza eneo hilo kwenye orodha ya maeneo ya urithi wa dunia yaliyo katika hatari.
Katika sherehe za hivi karibuni za kuadhimisha miaka 975 tangu kuanzishwa kwa monasteri hiyo, Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa UNESCO, Khaled El-Enany, alisema alikuwa “amehuzunishwa sana” kuona “uharibifu mkubwa” uliosababishwa kwenye eneo hilo.
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Viktoria Haidai surveys the mangled remains of the printing press, which should have been busy churning out textbooks ready for the new school year.
The plant, on the edge of Kyiv, was hit during the night by a Russian missile, just as production was ramping up to deliver 1.3 million books – 10% of Ukraine's schoolbooks.
In the ashes there is a charred page from an English language textbook: "My name is William, I'm from the UK. My grandmother lives in Nottingham. It's a beautiful city."
Russia has hit printing presses and publishing houses across Ukraine in a series of recent attacks, destroying 12 million books and damaging other icons of Ukrainian history and culture. Local media report that Russia has destroyed one third of all the books printed in Ukraine this year.
Nothing is salvageable at this Kyiv printing press. Even the pages that survived the flames have succumbed to water damage, from firefighting or exposure to the elements from the collapsed roof.
"I believe it is deliberate on the part of the Russian Federation," says Haidai, commercial director of the Konvi publishing firm. "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."
More than 35 publishing facilities have been hit over recent weeks.
But it's not just fresh pages coming under attack. Kyiv's Pochaina second-hand book market was also struck, wiping out hundreds of individual stalls and countless treasured tomes.
Before firefighters had finished extinguishing the blaze, I found Liliya Velyka, a 28-year-old book blogger, raking through the smouldering ruins, seeing if anything could be saved. She clutched a soaking copy of a sci-fi novel.
"Books are saving us and losing this is like losing our hearts," she says.
Museums, art galleries, film studios, libraries, and opera houses have also been damaged. At Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the capital's large medieval monastery and cultural heritage site, the golden domes of the Dormition Cathedral were hit.
Religious artefacts were moved to safety but a large section of the roof was set ablaze after a drone attack. Repairs are predicted to cost $11.2 million (£8.2m) and will take two years.
The site is also home to Ukraine's museum of books and printing. Unesco listed the complex in 1990, and added it to its register of world heritage sites in danger in September 2023.
At recent celebrations marking 975 years since the monastery's founding, Unesco's Director-General Khaled El-Enany said he was "deeply saddened" to see "the significant damage".
Kiwanda hicho kilichopo pembezoni mwa Kyiv, Ukraine, kilishambuliwa usiku na kombora la Urusi wakati uzalishaji ukiwa unaongezwa kwa lengo la kuchapisha vitabu milioni 1.3, sawa na asilimia 10 ya vitabu vya shule vinavyotumika nchini humo.
Miongoni mwa majivu hayo kulipatikana ukurasa ulioungua wa kitabu cha kiada cha lugha ya Kiingereza uliokuwa na maneno: “Jina langu ni William, ninatoka Uingereza. Bibi yangu anaishi Nottingham. Ni mji mzuri.”
Urusi imeendelea kushambulia mitambo ya uchapishaji na kampuni za uchapishaji kote Ukraine katika mfululizo wa mashambulizi ya hivi karibuni, hatua ambazo zimesababisha kuharibiwa kwa vitabu milioni 12, pamoja na kuathiri alama nyingine muhimu za historia na utamaduni wa Ukraine.
Vyombo vya habari vya ndani vimeripoti kwamba Urusi imeharibu takribani theluthi moja ya vitabu vyote vilivyochapishwa nchini Ukraine mwaka huu.
Katika kiwanda hicho cha Kyiv, hakuna kitu kinachoonekana kuweza kuokolewa. Hata kurasa zilizonusurika moto zimeharibika kutokana na maji yaliyotumika kuzima moto au kuingia kupitia paa lililoporomoka.
“Ninaamini hili linafanywa kwa makusudi na Shirikisho la Urusi,” alisema Haidai, ambaye ni mkurugenzi wa biashara wa kampuni ya uchapishaji ya Konvi.
Amesema katika kipindi cha miezi miwili iliyopita, baadhi ya kampuni kubwa zaidi za uchapishaji zimepoteza maghala yao ya usafirishaji, ambako kulikuwa kuhifadhiwa idadi kubwa ya vitabu.
“Warusi pia wanaharibu nyumba za uchapishaji katika jaribio la kuifuta Ukraine kama taifa. Lakini kwa kweli, hawatafanikiwa,” alisema Haidai.
Zaidi ya maeneo 35 ya uchapishaji yamekuwa yakilengwa katika wiki za hivi karibuni.
Lakini si kurasa mpya pekee zinazoshambuliwa. Soko la vitabu vilivyotumika la Pochaina, Kyiv, pia lilishambuliwa, na kusababisha mamia ya vibanda vya wafanyabiashara kuangamia pamoja na vitabu vingi vya thamani vilivyokuwa vimehifadhiwa kwa miaka.
Kabla hata wazima moto hawajamaliza kuzima moto huo, nilimkuta Liliya Velyka, mwanablogu wa vitabu mwenye umri wa miaka 28, akichambua mabaki yaliyokuwa bado yakifuka moshi akitafuta kuona kama kuna chochote kinachoweza kuokolewa. Alikuwa ameshikilia nakala iliyolowa maji ya riwaya ya kisayansi.
“Vitabu vinatuokoa, na kuvipoteza ni sawa na kupoteza mioyo yetu,” alisema.
Makumbusho, majumba ya sanaa, studio za filamu, maktaba na majengo ya opera pia yameharibiwa.
Katika Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, monasteri kubwa ya zamani iliyojengwa katika zama za kati na ambayo ni sehemu muhimu ya urithi wa kitamaduni wa Ukraine, magofu ya dhahabu ya Kanisa Kuu la Dormition yalilengwa.
Vitu vya kidini vilihamishwa na kuwekwa katika maeneo salama, lakini sehemu kubwa ya paa la jengo hilo iliteketea baada ya shambulio la ndege isiyokuwa na rubani (drone). Inakadiriwa kuwa ukarabati wake utagharimu dola milioni 11.2, sawa na takribani pauni milioni 8.2, na utachukua muda wa karibu miaka miwili.
Eneo hilo pia lina Makumbusho ya Vitabu na Uchapishaji ya Ukraine. UNESCO iliingiza eneo hilo kwenye orodha yake ya urithi wa dunia mwaka 1990, na Septemba 2023 ikaongeza eneo hilo kwenye orodha ya maeneo ya urithi wa dunia yaliyo katika hatari.
Katika sherehe za hivi karibuni za kuadhimisha miaka 975 tangu kuanzishwa kwa monasteri hiyo, Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa UNESCO, Khaled El-Enany, alisema alikuwa “amehuzunishwa sana” kuona “uharibifu mkubwa” uliosababishwa kwenye eneo hilo.
====================================
Viktoria Haidai surveys the mangled remains of the printing press, which should have been busy churning out textbooks ready for the new school year.
The plant, on the edge of Kyiv, was hit during the night by a Russian missile, just as production was ramping up to deliver 1.3 million books – 10% of Ukraine's schoolbooks.
In the ashes there is a charred page from an English language textbook: "My name is William, I'm from the UK. My grandmother lives in Nottingham. It's a beautiful city."
Russia has hit printing presses and publishing houses across Ukraine in a series of recent attacks, destroying 12 million books and damaging other icons of Ukrainian history and culture. Local media report that Russia has destroyed one third of all the books printed in Ukraine this year.
Nothing is salvageable at this Kyiv printing press. Even the pages that survived the flames have succumbed to water damage, from firefighting or exposure to the elements from the collapsed roof.
"I believe it is deliberate on the part of the Russian Federation," says Haidai, commercial director of the Konvi publishing firm. "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."
More than 35 publishing facilities have been hit over recent weeks.
But it's not just fresh pages coming under attack. Kyiv's Pochaina second-hand book market was also struck, wiping out hundreds of individual stalls and countless treasured tomes.
Before firefighters had finished extinguishing the blaze, I found Liliya Velyka, a 28-year-old book blogger, raking through the smouldering ruins, seeing if anything could be saved. She clutched a soaking copy of a sci-fi novel.
"Books are saving us and losing this is like losing our hearts," she says.
Museums, art galleries, film studios, libraries, and opera houses have also been damaged. At Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the capital's large medieval monastery and cultural heritage site, the golden domes of the Dormition Cathedral were hit.
Religious artefacts were moved to safety but a large section of the roof was set ablaze after a drone attack. Repairs are predicted to cost $11.2 million (£8.2m) and will take two years.
The site is also home to Ukraine's museum of books and printing. Unesco listed the complex in 1990, and added it to its register of world heritage sites in danger in September 2023.
At recent celebrations marking 975 years since the monastery's founding, Unesco's Director-General Khaled El-Enany said he was "deeply saddened" to see "the significant damage".