Russian occupation authorities have nearly wiped out Ukrainian literature from local libraries in the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, according to Ukraine’s National Resistance Center report.

Officials from the occupation, including those from the so-called ‘education department,’ are executing the book removals, the Center reported. They are accountable for the destruction and replacement of literature in the occupied zones, with reports sent directly to Russia’s Education Ministry.

The Russians have labeled Ukrainian titles as ‘extremist literature,’ a label that encompasses all Ukrainian publications from 1994 to 2021, the Center noted.

In 2023 alone, Russia has reportedly sent an estimated 2.5 million Russian books to the occupied Ukrainian territories.

According to NRC, 34,000 Russian textbooks were delivered to schools in the Russian-controlled Kherson Oblast in November. In total, the occupier authorities aimed to flood the Kherson Oblast with over 100,000 pieces of propaganda material. Moreover, an additional 19,000 books printed in Russia are expected to be dispatched there soon, the NRC added.

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