The Russian State Library in Moscow claims to have removed and placed in special archives approximately 18,000 books from Ukrainian territories under Russian control, which its officials have labeled "Russophobic." These books were taken from libraries located in the Donbas and other occupied areas of Ukraine.
According to the director of the Russian State Library, the books have been transferred to a repository dedicated to "academic and research" purposes. The stated objective is to allow researchers to study content considered ideological, without making it accessible to the general public.
The head of the library, Vadim Duda, stated on Telegram that these documents contained "openly nationalist and Russophobic ideas" and that, in his view, they distorted the shared history between Russia and Ukraine. This collection was reportedly launched in 2024 on the orders of the Russian Ministry of Culture.
On the Ukrainian side, these measures are part of a broader context of cultural and identity conflict. Kyiv accuses Moscow of seeking to gradually erase Ukrainian culture and identity in the occupied territories, in parallel with the war that began in 2022.
Russian authorities justify these operations as a preservation effort for "difficult heritage," intended to analyze narratives they deem ideologically problematic. The library maintains that it is not a matter of destruction, but of scientific archiving aimed at preserving this content for historians.
This operation illustrates once again the cultural and historical dimension of the conflict between the two countries, which extends far beyond the military and diplomatic spheres. Kyiv did not immediately react to these latest statements, but has long rejected Russian accusations and instead denounced attempts at indoctrination in the occupied territories.
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