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In this sentence:
Книжная индустрия выдержала удар пандемией (source)
why is пандемия in the instrumental? I understand that the sentence means "The book industry endured (survived) the hit of the pandemic". Therefore, I would use the genitive for пандемия. The sentence is also said in the video, however the speaker speaks so fast that the case is hard to make out.
Any thoughts?
In this very case it is rather problematic to tell if it is a mistake or an intended pun. The Instrumental case names an instrument, and удар пандемией alludes to удар плетью or удар кулаком and describes an instrument used in a similar way. This usage is metaphoric and implies there is something or someone active which struck the industry using the pandemic as a weapon. Why not? Mass media quite often use and abuse metaphors in headlines.
As it stands, I'd translate the Russian sentence into English as "... hit by the pandemic" rather than "... hit of the pandemic."
Whether or not it's the intended meaning isn't completely clear from the context. It doesn't look like the linked text is trying to use any metaphors, so it might well be just improper Russian. Not every native speaker speaks properly.
This is just another case of typical journalists vocabulary: use loud, crying words to bring more drama into the view.
The following sentence is particular version of the above:
Книжная индустрия пережила пандемию
However, it doesn't hook audience, from news-makers perspective.
