Sumy State University has lost a total of 60,000 books following two separate Russian strikes on its facilities, with the most recent attack on 18 August destroying 15,000 volumes in the library of the burned-down "N" building, Suspilne Sumy reported.
The latest casualties were "the newest books purchased over the last 5-6 years," according to the director of the library in the destroyed "N" building, as quoted by the regional broadcaster.
During the night of 17-18 August, Russian forces targeted Sumy State University with missiles and drones. The strikes damaged the main building and completely burned down the newer facility.
"It (the new building or 'N' building) stood neglected for a long time, and seven years ago we restored the auditoriums, lecture halls and created a center for collective equipment use. Now we will have to relocate to another location. The most valuable equipment? The most expensive is a diffractometer worth five million hryvnias. All equipment here is worth about twenty million," said first-category engineer Olena Tkachenko in comments to Suspilne.
The destroyed "N" building housed one of the university's libraries, where 15,000 book copies were lost to fire.
This follows an earlier Russian strike on April 13 that hit Sumy's historic center, killing 35 people. That attack damaged one of the university's buildings and the Congress Center, where another 45,000 books were destroyed.
The combined losses from both attacks total 60,000 book volumes, according to Suspilne Sumy.
