LYIV: Romana Yaremyn exhibits hundreds of books packed half way to the ceiling in the basement of the bookshop she operates in western Ukraine after being evacuated from the country’s war-torn east.

The publications salvaged from Kharkiv are packed together in white packets and fill up what was formerly the children’s reading room.

They are only a fraction of those employed at the shop’s publishing business in the eastern city, which is under Russian attack, she said.

“Our warehouse workers tried to at least evacuate some of the books. They loaded up a truck and all this was delivered through a postal company,” said the 27-year-old, who was wearing a yellow hoodie.

They began with their most current and best-selling titles, many of which are children’s novels.

With the exception of devastating air attacks near the railway last week, the western city of Lviv has stayed largely safe from violence since Russia invaded two months ago.

Since the conflict began, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women and children, have fled to or via the country’s cultural centre.

“I don’t know how my colleagues in Kharkiv have stayed there,” Yaremyn said.

“Those who fled and stayed with me said they felt that they wanted to level the city to the ground.”

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