17.12.24 Analytics

451° Fahrenheit: The pressure of censorship and strategies of resistance shape the contours and features of the cultural policy of ‘war-era Putinism’


The beginning of the war in Ukraine triggered the decisive ideologisation of Russian authoritarianism. A campaign of indoctrination and the fight against 'foreign influences' now affects all areas of culture and art. While the book market became a battleground between the state and society as early as the 2010s, censorship and pressure escalated to a new level following the invasion of Ukraine.

Several notable repressive cases have defined the risks for publishers and booksellers, prompting the adoption of self-censorship practices. Specific restrictions have been imposed on the sale and circulation of books by public opponents of the war, labeled as 'foreign agents'. Unreliable authors are excluded from festivals and book fairs, and libraries hide their books from public access.

For now, the primary instrument of pressure remains denunciations by conservative activists. However, initial steps toward institutionalisation have been taken: the Expert Council under the Russian Book Union has assumed the role of a de facto censorship body. Future government plans include creating a registry of publishers, signaling a return to the licensing of publishing activities reminiscent of the Soviet era.

Nevertheless, this situation differs markedly from the total control of the Soviet period. The current crackdown on 'unreliable' literature is characterised by three key factors: the absence of clear boundaries between ideologically permissible and impermissible content, the lack of a centralised censorship institution, and the commercial, market-driven nature of the publishing industry, along with porous borders. In this context, resistance becomes not only a civic act but also a viable commercial strategy.

For example, the publishing infrastructure outside Russia has seen rapid development, managing to penetrate the domestic market through various channels in both print and electronic formats. According to Re:Russia, nearly 250 Russian-language books that could not be published within Russia have been released abroad in less than three years.

Like Russian media outlets operating in exile, uncensored literature remains accessible to Russian readers, although pressure on the public sphere and distribution infrastructure limits access, making it more difficult but not impossible. At the same time, replicating the Soviet censorship system and fully segregating two publishing segments under new conditions is unfeasible. As in the media sphere, Russian society is poised to live in a situation of coexistence and competition between these segments.

The book front and its peculiarities

The beginning of the war in Ukraine triggered a decisive ideologisation of Russian authoritarianism. This trend, characterised by the Kremlin’s promotion of a conservative, anti-Western value system, had been gaining momentum throughout the 2010s. However, the invasion of Ukraine forced the regime to radicalise its indoctrination campaign, employing repressive tools to eradicate 'hostile' value systems. This campaign now encompasses most spheres of culture, art, intellectual life, and public discourse. Its unfolding, along with the successes and failures of the regime, is vividly reflected in the trends shaping the evolution of the Russian book market.

The war immediately and profoundly altered the Russian book market. First, many foreign publishers, their agencies, and globally renowned authors, such as Stephen King and J.K. Rowling, suspended cooperation with Russia. As a result, the legal publication of new Western literature has become severely restricted. At the same time, the war spurred the growth of the 'ultra-patriotic' segment, including Z-literature and especially Z-poetry, while boosting sales of 'tabloid Stalinism' – pseudo-historical glorifications of Stalin, Russian imperial military achievements, and similar themes. Finally, censorship and repression campaigns have begun exerting significant influence on the market.

From the very beginning of the conflict, many highly popular authors, such as Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Boris Akunin (Grigory Chkhartishvili), Dmitry Bykov, and Dmitry Glukhovsky, publicly opposed the war. These writers, possessing significant public influence, became the first targets of persecution. As literary critic Galina Yuzefovich notes in her review of the censorship and ideological attacks on the book market, the initial focus was not on their books but on the authors themselves, who shared the fate of all who openly voiced anti-war positions. They were soon labeled 'foreign agents', and some faced criminal charges. While the sale of their books is not formally banned, the 'foreign agent' designation imposes specific requirements on publishers and distributors. All books, regardless of their publication year or subject, must bear 'foreign agent' and 18+ markings, and in retail settings, they must be sold in opaque packaging. Public libraries also face restrictions on the circulation of books by 'foreign agents'. The latest initiative in this area, the 'special accounts' law, limits access to royalties for these authors within Russia.

As the initial task of suppressing public resistance to the war was addressed and the new regime of war-era Putinism solidified, the scope of ideological control expanded. However, unlike Soviet-era censorship, the current crackdown on 'unreliable' literature is marked by three key differences: the absence of clear boundaries between ideologically permissible and impermissible content, the lack of a centralised censorship institution, and the market-driven, commercial nature of the publishing industry.

The latter, according to the authorities, was intended to serve as a tool of censorship. This mechanism indeed functions, primarily affecting large publishers that seek to maintain sales, revenue, and market positions, as well as major bookstores. For instance, in 2023, Russia’s largest publishing house, AST, decided without court orders to ‘suspend' the publication and distribution of books by 'foreign agents' Boris Akunin and Dmitry Bykov. In February 2024, it unilaterally ‘suspended' royalty payments to 'foreign agent' Lyudmila Ulitskaya. Similarly, many bookstores and libraries have acted out of fear of scandals and sanctions. Publishers have also refrained from featuring 'foreign agents’ books at book fairs due to the potential risks involved.

Conversely, for smaller publishers and bookstores, market dynamics often work in the opposite direction: the withdrawal of major players from contentious topics creates a niche that other players can fill. As a result, resistance to censorship is not only ideological but also commercially viable.

Repressive practices, the ideological spectrum of censorship and steps towards its institutionalisation

The tightening of the ideological climate became starkly evident in the controversy surrounding the queer bestseller Summer in a Pioneer Tie. Repression against the book served as a defining warning for the entire book market. Published in 2021, the novel about a mutual romance between a Pioneer and a camp counselor came under formal prohibition following the December 2022 adoption of an updated version of the law against LGBT ‘propaganda’ (some experts believe the law was, in part, a response to the book's popularity). The authors, Katerina Sylvanova and Elena Malisova (pen names of Ekaterina Dudko and Elena Prokasheva), did not make public anti-war statements, yet the harassment campaign forced them to leave Russia. Shortly after, both the authors and the book’s publishers were designated as ‘foreign agents’.

A second prominent censorship case involved Vladimir Sorokin’s post-apocalyptic horror novel Heritage. In January 2024, a group of 1500 ‘concerned’ citizens petitioned the Investigative Committee to review the novel for legal violations. In April, the book was withdrawn from sale by its publisher, AST, and in November, a court fined AST, the distributing publisher Eksmo, and the printing house 4 million rubles each for ‘disseminating pornographic materials’. This legal action followed a complaint from State Duma Deputy Oleg Kolesnikov.

Even before these incidents, publishers and printing houses had begun ‘adjusting’ their policies. The repressive environment prompted many publishers to introduce internal legal reviews to protect themselves from prosecution and financial losses (as detailed in a report by Meduza on this subject). Printing houses, too, began rejecting orders for books they deemed potentially risky, according to Felix Sandalov, director of the StraightForward Foundation and former editor-in-chief of the Individuum publishing house.

Most censorship measures are reactionary, stemming from grassroots signals by traditionalist and pro-war activists, and result from informal state pressure. Local administrations often intervene in the operations of bookstores and cultural venues, further amplifying these effects.

Thus, the campaign against 'foreign influences' currently manifests as a combination of grassroots activism and self-censorship by publishers and authors seeking to avoid administrative or criminal charges, distribution hurdles, or reputational damage. For state-adjacent cultural managers, banning certain authors from book festivals or excluding specific publishers from book fairs has become a way to display loyalty. At the recent Non/Fiction intellectual literature fair in Moscow, at least three projects – publishers Boomkniga and Chyorny Kvadrat and the magazine Dilettante – were excluded for ideological reasons.

Formally, censorship remains prohibited under the Russian Constitution (Article 29, Clause 5). However, steps toward institutionalising censorship are being taken, signaling a pivotal moment for the future of Russia's book market. In December 2023, the Russian Book Union (RKS), a formally independent but government-aligned industry lobby, established an Expert Council. The council's mandate is to ‘prevent the publication and distribution of book products that contradict current legislation’. Among the seven laws explicitly listed on its website are those targeting LGBT 'propaganda', the 'discreditation of the use' of the armed forces, and the 'legal protection of historical truth about the Great Patriotic War' – laws that form the repressive foundation of contemporary Russian ideological censorship.

The Expert Council’s charter specifies that it is tasked with reviewing 'book products' upon requests from 'state authorities, law enforcement agencies, publishing organisations, and aggregators of electronic content', with its findings deemed advisory in nature. The Council includes representatives from entities such as Roskomnadzor, the Russian Historical Society, the Russian Military-Historical Society, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia. However, its operations are shrouded in secrecy: for example, while AST Publishing referenced the Council when explaining its decision to withdraw certain books from sale, the names of the Council's experts and administrators have not been officially disclosed, and none of its reviews have been made public.

The Council is incapable of fully regulating the book market without substantial expansion and significant budgetary resources. Nevertheless, its creation marks an attempt to formalise book censorship institutionally. Further plans have already been announced: during the 11th Congress of the Russian Book Union (RKS) in early December, Elena Yampolskaya, an advisor to the President of Russia, proposed enacting a federal law on publishing and distribution of books in Russia and establishing a state registry of publishers. This would essentially license publishing activities through a specialised regulatory body. Approval or removal from the registry would then serve as the primary mechanism of ideological control, likely prohibiting printing houses from producing materials by publishers not listed in the registry.

Practices of resistance, their possibilities and limitations

Censorship pressure has led to the emergence of symbolic resistance practices among publishers and bookstores. Drawing on anthropologist James Scott's concept of ‘hidden transcripts’, critic Galina Yuzefovich highlights how some publishers covertly resist through nuanced acts. While many quietly self-censor by excluding or altering risky content, others adopt more demonstrative approaches. For example, when publishing a biography of filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini AST Publishing deliberately blacked out 'censored' sections to expose the intervention. The book's commercial success exceeded expectations. Major bookstores generally comply zealously with regulations on 'foreign agent' literature. However, smaller, niche bookstores have adopted creative approaches since the fall 2023 rules for selling books by 'foreign agents' were introduced. These shops package such books in heart-decorated wrapping paper, tie them with ribbons, and display them on shelves marked ‘Our Favourite Foreign Agents’.

A separate phenomenon of 'projective resistance' has emerged within the intellectual publishing segment. There has been a surge in books exploring the history of the Third Reich and life in Germany after World War II. Felix Sandalov notes a growing interest in literature about other wars, dictatorships, nuclear weapons, and psychological self-help. As previously mentioned, resistance strategies in a market-driven environment leverage not only the participants' principles but also the commercial potential tied to these themes.

Additionally, the independent book infrastructure has flourished within the burgeoning Russian diaspora since the war's onset. New publishing projects, Russian-language bookstores (in cities like Yerevan, Tbilisi, Berlin, Lisbon, and soon Vienna and London), cultural spaces, and book distribution networks have emerged. This has been accompanied by the launch of magazines (ROAR, Fifth Wave, Words Beyond Self), literary awards (Dar, Freedom Books), and even an international Russian-language book fair which took place in September 2024 in Prague, uniting both long-established and new publishers.

According to calculations by Re:Russia, over 250 Russian-language books have been published abroad during the nearly three years of war. Leading this trend are Freedom Letters, with around 100 titles, and the Tel Aviv bookstore Babel, with approximately 50. Most of these works address topics banned in Russia: the war, critiques of Putin's regime and authoritarianism, LGBTQ+ issues, the trauma of emigration, and more. A smaller, though notable, segment consists of translations of Ukrainian authors into Russian.

This flourishing of Russian-language book culture in exile parallels each wave of Russian emigration. However, contemporary works differ fundamentally from the legendary publications of Ardis and YMCA-Press in the 20th century. Back then, total state control and the lack of commercial logistics rendered diaspora books nearly inaccessible to Soviet readers. Post-Soviet economic globalisation, an extensive network of market agents, market-driven incentives, and digital infrastructure have dramatically changed this dynamic.

Today, many Russian-language books published abroad are available in Russia. They appear on the shelves of niche bookstores and in the inventories of adaptable and loosely regulated marketplaces, with delivery options from CIS/EAEU countries. Many are also accessible as e-books, either officially or in pirated versions. Texts of popular books – ranging from Mice by Ivan Filippov, prosecuted by Russia's Prosecutor General's Office, to Alexei Navalny's The Patriot (currently only available via back-translation from English) – can be easily found online, often for free and without the need for a VPN.

However, the removal of books from legal circulation and their exclusion from the surrounding informational environment (reviews, festivals, fairs) significantly reduces their readership. While the motivated and informed 'anti-war' segment of the audience retains access to 'unreliable' content, larger audience segments remain outside the resistance infrastructure's reach. Georgy Urushadze, head of the largest 'emigrant' publishing house Freedom Letters, which manages to distribute its books relatively successfully in Russia, estimates that their print runs could be 50-100 times larger if they had free access to the Russian market and media.

This situation illustrates both the possibilities and limits of censorship today and is characteristic of more than just the book market. Similar to relocated Russian media under censorship restrictions, these books remain accessible to Russians, but pressure on the public sphere and distribution infrastructure limits access, making it more challenging rather than impossible. Meanwhile, the emergence of two distinct book flows limits the scope of censorship: broader thematic restrictions will only saturate the alternative book market further and expand demand for it. Recreating the Soviet censorship system and strictly dividing two market segments is unfeasible under current conditions. Thus, as with the media sphere, society is poised to navigate an environment of coexistence and competition between censored and uncensored segments.