Ukraine starts nationwide recycling of Russian books to purchase military drones

Ukrainian volunteer network of educational spaces Honcharenko Center has launched a large-scale collection of Russian books in 12 cities.

The collected literature will be recycled, and the proceeds will be used to purchase drones for Ukrainian forces.

What is the problem?

Many Ukrainians still have books by Russian publishing houses on their home shelves. Most of them are dated back to Soviet times. Yet, with the dawn of Ukrainian publishing houses, Russian books are slowly being disposed of.

"Russians come to our land to eradicate everything Ukrainian. They destroy Ukrainian books, bring their own literature filled with propaganda to libraries. We want Ukrainians to have no Russian books on their bookshelves," volunteers state on their social media.

What is the solution?

For those who have long wanted to get rid of books by Pushkin and Lermontov, the Honcharenko Center has launched a large-scale collection of Russian books in 12 cities.

The books collected here will be recycled, and the proceeds will be used to purchase drones for the Ukrainian forces.

How does it work?

The team aims to help Ukrainians clear their home library shelves of Russian culture and, simultaneously aid the military.

"A kilogram of waste paper costs barely $1, so we will have to collect a lot. We urge Ukrainians to join the campaign and bring books that no longer belong in home libraries. The "Pushkins" on your shelf can also fight and bring victory closer."

The collection will last from February 15 to March 24, 2024.

The first campaign to collect Russian books was launched in Chernivtsi in 2022, where the center collected more than a ton of books.

Russian propaganda literature has already begun to be removed from Ukrainian libraries. It will be replaced by domestic literature and books published by Ukrainian publishers.