By Andrew Richard Albanese, Editor-in-Chief
Amid a now four-and-half year war of aggression—and after a summer of devastating Russian strikes targeting Ukraine’s publishing infrastructure—the Association of University Presses (AUPresses) has launched a GoFundMe effort in hopes of assisting Ukrainian publishers seeking to attend meeting of university presses at the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair.In a call for donations, AUPress officials said the first $6,000 collected will be used to send three Ukrainian publishers to the International Convention of University Presses at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 9, the first reconvening of the event after a seven-year hiatus. The convention “aims to facilitate transnational dialogue, network building, and shared perspectives on the future of university press publishing.”
Any funds received in excess of that $6,000 goal will then be donated to the Ukrainian Book Institute (UBI) to aid in the organization’s efforts to support the country’s book industry, and to make “Ukrainian literature more accessible in Ukraine” and “more visible” throughout the world.
On August 1, Russian strikes destroyed a key distribution center in Kharkiv destroying some eight million books (credit: Ihor Zarudko).
“As a global community of mission-driven publishers dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Association of University Presses (AUPresses) is dismayed by targeted Russian bombings of Ukrainian warehouses, printers, and publishing houses across multiple regions including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Kherson during July and August,” AUPress officials said, in a statement announcing the fundraising effort.
As Publishing Perspectives shared last month, the AUPresses initiative comes as a series of Russian attacks have caused massive damage to key book industry infrastructure in Ukraine, including publishing offices, warehouses, bookstores, libraries, and printing facilities, with more than 10 million books said to destroyed.
In response, the Ukrainian Book Institute is also appealing to the international publishing community for support. While the Ukrainian government has pledged support for the “restoration of infrastructure,” Ukrainian publishers are otherwise left to rely on support from the international community, which UBI reps said, have destroyed about 30% of Ukraine’s annual book production—especially troubling with the school year set to start in a matter of days.
“While recovering from the damage caused by Russia’s attacks will require enormous effort, time, and resources, on behalf of the Ukrainian Book Institute, we call on our partners and the international publishing community to support Ukrainian publishers and contribute to their recovery,” reads the UBI appeal, which includes a list of ways the community can offer support, including details of how supporters can make direct financial contributions.