From Pages to Ashes: How Russia Erased a 30-Year Kyiv Landmark Overnight

On August 16, Russians destroyed a book market in Kyiv in a missile strike, near Pochaina metro station (formerly Petrivka). The attack burned down several rows of market stalls, while windows in many others were damaged. Rescuers extinguished the fire, but the books are still smoldering.

This was reported by NV.ua.

“There’s nothing left. No one has anything left… Everything burned down. I sold foreign-language textbooks for schoolchildren. We were waiting for September so that everyone would have their textbooks… But what happened, happened,” Natalia, the owner of a bookstore affected by the Russian attack, told hromadske.

Alina, the owner of another bookstore that burned to the ground, estimates her losses at more than UAH 1 million. She said she sold expensive medical literature, with some books costing around UAH 5,000. According to her, the market’s working day starts at 10 a.m., but not all vendors have yet arrived at the site to see the aftermath of the Russian attack for themselves.

Tetiana sold stationery at a stall that was completely destroyed in the Russian strike. “I had stationery — row 12. We had already started gradually stocking up on goods. School is just about to start,” the woman told Suspilne.

Journalists also reported that the Russians damaged the entrance to Pochaina metro station, the market, and nearby retail stalls.

The Russian attack prompted a response from Oleksandr Krasovytskyi, CEO and majority owner of the Folio publishing house.

“Pochaina Book Market — that’s it. Three missiles right into the heart. This time, the story is over,” he wrote.

“I belong to the generation that met a significant share of its needs at Petrivka… Honestly, when I bought Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code there many years ago, I hardly thought about whether it was a legal copy or a pirated one. Petrivka was a special place. For decades, it gave Kyiv residents what was often lacking elsewhere: a huge selection and affordable prices.

Today, Russia has launched yet another attack on Ukraine. As a result of the attack, a massive fire also engulfed the book market at Petrivka. And I think that for the old Petrivka, this could be the final full stop,” wrote Dmytro Feliksov, founder of Readeat bookstores and the BookTicket service.

“State-minded people have said since the very beginning of the war that it would affect everyone, each and every one of us. And now it has affected us. Today’s overnight strike burned down an entire chapter of history — the Petrivka Book Market. A place where my parents built their book business over many years, essentially their entire lives, has burned down. Now it is unclear whether the famous book market will ever reopen…” Facebook user Olena Linnik wrote in response to the Russian strike.

Ukrainian director and artist Valeriia Aidina wrote: “The book market is burning… Lapti have defeated the book market…”

Yulia Orlova, CEO and co-owner of Vivat publishing house, commented on the destruction of the book market at Pochaina by the Russian attack, writing: “An entire era has come to an end…”

Last time, Russian forces attacked the market in Pochaina on July 30. At the time, fires broke out at three locations in Kyiv, one of them the market’s trading pavilions. On June 15, a large-scale Russian attack on Kyiv also caused a major fire at the market, destroying part of the rows of stalls.

As noted by Chytomo, the Petrivka Book Market became one of Ukraine’s largest book markets and an iconic destination for Kyiv’s book lovers. Hundreds of vendors operated at the market, with a selection featuring books from more than 120 publishers.

The official opening date of the market on Verbova Street is considered to be March 1, 1997. However, its history dates back to the late 1980s, when “black booksellers” operated on what was then Frunze Street (now Kyrylivska Street). After the informal market was shut down in 1994, the vendors moved to the area around Petrivka metro station. It was there that the modern book market eventually took shape, also attracting sellers from Kurenivsky Park.

The market was named Petrivka in 1997 after the nearby metro station and the Kyiv-Petrivka railway station. In 2018, as part of Ukraine’s decommunization process, the names of stations and public transport stops in the area were changed. The renaming also affected legal entities and businesses located on the market premises. Since then, the market has been referred to as the “book market at Pochaina.”

Since 2003, Kyiv authorities have been actively discussing plans to build a shopping and entertainment center on the site of the book market. In January 2011, plans emerged to build a new shopping mall on part of the capital’s book market. At the time, the Kyiv City State Administration said the old market area would be preserved as a site of historical importance to the city. At the same time, a large shopping and entertainment complex was planned for the site of the market’s utility area and part of its rows of stalls.

On October 3, 2019, the Kyiv City State Administration issued urban planning conditions and restrictions for the construction of the Petrovka-MALL shopping and entertainment center on the site of the book market. In December 2021, similar documents were issued for development of the utility market area.

The plans sparked discontent among Kyiv residents. The #SavePetrovka campaign was launched in support of preserving the book market. Following the protests, city authorities began negotiations with the developer over preserving the market. After Russia’s full-scale invasion began, however, the project did not receive the promised continuation planned for 2022–2023.