The Crackdown on Queer Literature: Where Russia Stands in Early 2026
Russian authorities have intensified pressure on LGBTQ+ literature: publishers are being shut down, employees placed under house arrest, and books pulled from sale. Nevertheless, demand for queer texts persists — readers find them on pirate platforms, in private Telegram channels, and even ask friends to bring them from abroad.
Closure of Popcorn Books and Criminal Prosecution
In January 2026, Popcorn Books announced its closure. The publisher had operated since 2018, specializing in young adult and queer literature. Among its bestsellers was the novel "Summer in a Pioneer Tie" by Elena Malisova and Katerina Silvanova, which sold nearly 400,000 copies.
The publisher's troubles began in 2022 following a public harassment campaign by writer Zakhar Prilepin, director Nikita Mikhalkov, and deputy Vitaly Milonov. The book was pulled from sale, its authors left Russia and were designated "foreign agents." Changes in ownership — first a sale to businessman Denis Kotov, then the transfer of 51% of shares to the Eksmo-AST holding company — did not help.
In 2025, criminal charges were filed against employees of Popcorn Books and its affiliated publisher Individuum for "organizing an extremist community." The publishers' director Dmitry Protopopov, sales director Pavel Ivanov, and warehouse employee Artyom Vakhlyaev were placed under house arrest. According to investigators, they published books containing "LGBT propaganda." The case involves ten books with queer themes, including "Summer in a Pioneer Tie," "Windows to the Courtyard," "Checkered Notebook" by Mikita Franko, and "Heartstopper" by Alice Oseman.
A few days after the closure, the team launched a new publishing house called Soda Press. Whether it will work with queer themes has not been officially announced.
Fines and Raids on Bookstores
Popcorn Books is not the only victim of this pressure. Since 2022, against the backdrop of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the state has intensified censorship of publishers and bookstores.
Falanster (Moscow): In 2025, this independent bookstore was fined 800,000 rubles for "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations." Co-founder Boris Kupriyanov received a fine of 100,000 rubles. The charges stemmed from books including "The Fruit of Knowledge" by Liv Strömquist and "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by Emily M. Danforth.
Podpisnye Izdaniya (St. Petersburg): In April 2025, the store was inspected and dozens of books were seized. The court imposed a fine of 800,000 rubles. In 2025, store employees contacted authors of queer media asking them to delete old publications about LGBTQ+ books.
Chitay-Gorod: In January 2026, even this major retail chain received a violation notice under the "propaganda" law.
No Kidding Press: This publisher, which specialized in feminist and queer literature (publishing "The Argonauts" by Maggie Nelson, "Zami" by Audre Lorde), closed at the end of 2024. In February 2026, it was still fined 800,000 rubles for the comic "The Fruit of Knowledge."
Black Bars Instead of Text
Publishers that continue to operate resort to censorship. Books are released with black or gray bars covering mentions of homosexuality:
How Readers Find Queer Books
Despite the bans, demand for queer literature persists. Readers search for books:
"Demand Was and Will Be There"
Experts are confident that interest in queer literature will not disappear.
"Queer people won't die by order from above, which means the desire to read about themselves will persist. The forbidden fruit effect plays its role here," believes Kropotkin.
Georgy Urushadze from Freedom Letters publishing notes that the gay novel "Springfield" by Sergei Davydov, which they published, "sold at a rate of three hundred copies per hour." At the publisher's 2024 literary prize, nearly a third of submitted prose texts were written on queer themes.
"Pressure on literature is an attempt to simplify and unify the surrounding space, creating a single textbook of life, while easily earning stars on one's epaulettes: books are easy to punish, they can't stand up for themselves," Urushadze concludes.
Based on reporting from Novaya Gazeta Europe
Closure of Popcorn Books and Criminal Prosecution
In January 2026, Popcorn Books announced its closure. The publisher had operated since 2018, specializing in young adult and queer literature. Among its bestsellers was the novel "Summer in a Pioneer Tie" by Elena Malisova and Katerina Silvanova, which sold nearly 400,000 copies.
The publisher's troubles began in 2022 following a public harassment campaign by writer Zakhar Prilepin, director Nikita Mikhalkov, and deputy Vitaly Milonov. The book was pulled from sale, its authors left Russia and were designated "foreign agents." Changes in ownership — first a sale to businessman Denis Kotov, then the transfer of 51% of shares to the Eksmo-AST holding company — did not help.
In 2025, criminal charges were filed against employees of Popcorn Books and its affiliated publisher Individuum for "organizing an extremist community." The publishers' director Dmitry Protopopov, sales director Pavel Ivanov, and warehouse employee Artyom Vakhlyaev were placed under house arrest. According to investigators, they published books containing "LGBT propaganda." The case involves ten books with queer themes, including "Summer in a Pioneer Tie," "Windows to the Courtyard," "Checkered Notebook" by Mikita Franko, and "Heartstopper" by Alice Oseman.
A few days after the closure, the team launched a new publishing house called Soda Press. Whether it will work with queer themes has not been officially announced.
Fines and Raids on Bookstores
Popcorn Books is not the only victim of this pressure. Since 2022, against the backdrop of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the state has intensified censorship of publishers and bookstores.
Falanster (Moscow): In 2025, this independent bookstore was fined 800,000 rubles for "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations." Co-founder Boris Kupriyanov received a fine of 100,000 rubles. The charges stemmed from books including "The Fruit of Knowledge" by Liv Strömquist and "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by Emily M. Danforth.
Podpisnye Izdaniya (St. Petersburg): In April 2025, the store was inspected and dozens of books were seized. The court imposed a fine of 800,000 rubles. In 2025, store employees contacted authors of queer media asking them to delete old publications about LGBTQ+ books.
Chitay-Gorod: In January 2026, even this major retail chain received a violation notice under the "propaganda" law.
No Kidding Press: This publisher, which specialized in feminist and queer literature (publishing "The Argonauts" by Maggie Nelson, "Zami" by Audre Lorde), closed at the end of 2024. In February 2026, it was still fined 800,000 rubles for the comic "The Fruit of Knowledge."
Black Bars Instead of Text
Publishers that continue to operate resort to censorship. Books are released with black or gray bars covering mentions of homosexuality:
- Pasolini biography (AST): approximately one-fifth of the text hidden behind black rectangles
- "The Chronology of Water" by Lidia Yuknavitch (Livebook): scenes with BDSM and relationships between women blacked out
- "Shattered" by Max Falk (LikeBook): scenes of relationships between men blacked out
- "How to Be Authentic" by Skye Cleary (Alpina Non-Fiction): gray bars covering entire pages
- "Diaghilev's Empire" by Rupert Christiansen (Alpina Non-Fiction): descriptions of relationships with men removed
How Readers Find Queer Books
Despite the bans, demand for queer literature persists. Readers search for books:
- On Avito and Ozon — but prices can reach several thousand rubles ("like a wing from an airplane")
- In pirate libraries and Telegram channels
- On Ficbook — a fanfiction platform where "Summer in a Pioneer Tie" recently returned, published by the authors themselves
- Through paid subscriptions on Boosty and Patreon
- Brought from abroad — from EU bookstores with Russian-language literature
"Demand Was and Will Be There"
Experts are confident that interest in queer literature will not disappear.
"Queer people won't die by order from above, which means the desire to read about themselves will persist. The forbidden fruit effect plays its role here," believes Kropotkin.
Georgy Urushadze from Freedom Letters publishing notes that the gay novel "Springfield" by Sergei Davydov, which they published, "sold at a rate of three hundred copies per hour." At the publisher's 2024 literary prize, nearly a third of submitted prose texts were written on queer themes.
"Pressure on literature is an attempt to simplify and unify the surrounding space, creating a single textbook of life, while easily earning stars on one's epaulettes: books are easy to punish, they can't stand up for themselves," Urushadze concludes.
Based on reporting from Novaya Gazeta Europe