Law enforcement names those responsible for strike on Faktor-Druk printing house in Kharkiv
Ukrainian law enforcement officers have identified and served in absentia notices of suspicion on four Russian military commanders involved in a missile strike on the Faktor-Druk printing house in Kharkiv on 23 May 2024.
Source: Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko and Vladyslav Abdula, spokesperson for the Security Service of Ukraine in Kharkiv Oblast
Details: Investigators have identified those responsible for the attack on the printing house as:
- Colonel General Aleksei Kim, First Deputy Commander of the Russian Armed Forces' Joint Group of Forces, who made the decision to strike the printing house.
- Lieutenant General Andrei Tsyganov, head of the air defence and missile defence directorate, who ensured the use of missile systems.
- Vice Admiral Aleksandr Peshkov, who was responsible for target selection and coordination of the strike.
- Colonel Sergei Monetov, head of intelligence, who initiated the inclusion of the printing house in the list of air strike targets despite it being a civilian facility.
Law enforcement officers established that the missile launches were carried out from the territory of Russia's Belgorod Oblast by a specialised tactical group from the 568th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment.
The Security Service of Ukraine has served in absentia notices of suspicion on those four Russians under Article 438.2 of Ukraine's Criminal Code – violation of the laws and customs of war that resulted in deaths.
Background:
- On the morning of 23 May 2024, the Russian military struck the printing house with an S-300 missile, killing seven employees and injuring 21 people. As a result of the attack, 50,000 books were destroyed in the ensuing fire.
- At the time, Serhii Polityuchyi, the owner of the Faktor-Druk printing house, said that the strike could reduce the publishing market's capacity by up to 40%.
- The printing house was repaired in March 2025.
- Faktor-Druk is one of the largest full-cycle printing houses in Europe. The facility, located in Kharkiv, printed books for nearly all Ukrainian publishers, including a large number of school textbooks.
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