Ukraine announces removal of 'Russian propagandistic literature from libraries amid war

With the war in Eastern Europe advancing unabated, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy on Thursday announced that they are working on removing literature works promoting Russian propaganda literature from Ukrainian libraries. The Ukrainian Culture Ministry further added that they will replace such texts with Ukrainian literature and works that have been published by Ukrainian publishers. Taking to her official Facebook account, Larisa Petasyuk, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, labelled propaganda as a 'dangerous weapon' and added, "Russian lies are poisons all around today."

The Ukrainian Ministry further noted that the process of removal of propagandistic Russian literature from Ukrainian library funds will be carried out based on relevant technical guidelines, as per the statement released by the Cultural Ministry on Facebook. The aforementioned guidelines will be approved by the Council for the Development of the Library Case under the Ministry. In the statement, Larisa Petasyuk stressed that they have "defined clear criteria" by which they will remove the Russian culture from Ukrainian library funds. Petasyuk further noted that they have been addressing the issue "carefully" and exuded hope that the decision will leave a positive impact on the development of the Ukrainian book stores. Furthermore, librarians have been advised to set up advisory bodies that will give recommendations on the update of library funds in the face of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine. 

“Propaganda is a dangerous weapon. Russian lies are poisons all around today. We have all ways to deal with this phenomenon. At present, the Ministry has defined clear criteria by which Russian literature will be removed from Ukrainian library funds, Larisa Petasyuk said in the statement released on Facebook. 

Russia-Ukraine war 

It is pertinent to mention here that Russia launched a military offensive against Ukraine on February 24, nearly two days after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Since then, the hostilities between the two countries had led to the destruction of infrastructure and thousands of deaths in the war-torn nation. According to UNHCR, more than 5.7 million people have fled Ukraine and relocated to neighbouring countries to escape the atrocities of war since February 24. As per the UN Refugee Agency, more than 7 million people have been estimated to be internally displaced in Ukraine. In the latest update, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry has claimed that more than 24,500 Russian soldiers have lost their lives since the invasion started. It is worth mentioning that ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, several EU nations have been imposing sanctions against Moscow and providing financial and defence assistance to Kyiv. 

Image: AP