Arrests, blacklists, and a legal precedent: Key details of Russia’s first crackdown against book publishers under the “LGBT extremism” law

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (“organizing, participating in, and involving others in the activity of an extremist organization”) targeting one of Russia's most prominent publishing houses, Eksmo, and two of its imprints, Popcorn Books and Individuum.

According to a press release put out by the agency, between November 2023 and September 2024, three employees of Individuum Print LLC “published and sold books promoting the activities of the LGBT movement — designated as an extremist organization in Russia — for personal gain.” During searches, over 1,000 copies of such books were seized.

Among those detained were:

• Dmitry Protopopov, head of Popcorn Books and Individuum — placed under house arrest, though prosecutors had requested pre-trial detention.
• Pavel Ivanov, former sales director at Individuum Print — house arrest.
• Artyom Vakhlyaev, responsible for storage and distribution of books from both Popcorn Books and Individuum — house arrest.

Anatoly Norovyatkin, distribution director at Eksmo, was detained but later released after being questioned as a witness.

The case was triggered by the publication of books between 2019 and 2022 that include LGBTQ+ themes. Among the works in question are:

• Summer in a Pioneer Tie (known as “Pioneer Summer” in its English-language translation) and its sequel What the Swallow Is Silent About by Elena Malisova and Kateryna Sylvanova
• Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The publishing project StraightForward, founded by Felix Sandalov — Individuum’s former editor-in-chief — wrote that the authorities’ interest stems from “the publication of books that depict a reality the security services find unacceptable.” StraightForward stressed that “these books were released before the relevant laws were passed and have not been distributed since the censorship restrictions came into effect.”