MOSCOW, February 6 In Ukraine, during the «derussification of libraries «Destroyed 11 million books,» said Yevgenia Kravchuk, deputy head of the committee on humanitarian and information policy of the Verkhovna Rada.
«As of November last year, about 19 million copies of books were written off in public libraries, of which about 11 million were in Russian,» Kravchuk was quoted as saying in the Telegram channel of the Verkhovna Rada.
According to her, some Ukrainian-language books of the Soviet era are also being copied, as well as the works of those authors who came out in support of the special operation.
Kravchuk stressed that the ratio of books in Russian and Ukrainian languages in libraries is «very sad». According to her, about 44% of the works are written in Russian, the rest — in Ukrainian or in the languages of the EU countries.
«The deputies managed to amend the 2023 budget to increase funding for the Book Institute. This is much less than we would like, but thanks to this, the purchases of publications that are financed from the budget of the Ministry of Culture will be paid for,» she concluded.
Last July, the press service of the Kyiv City Council announced a draft decision that was planned to ban the public use of any Russian-language cultural product in the Ukrainian capital, including books, performances and concerts.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in turn, said that the Kyiv regime for many years pursued a policy of aggressive de-Russification and forced assimilation of the Russian-speaking population. He also noted that Moscow wants to see Ukraine friendly, without various prohibitions.
Besides, President Vladimir Putin called fools those who «cancel» everything connected with Russia, and stressed that those who act in this way deprive themselves of a part of the world culture.