In recent years, pressure on queer literature in Russia has evolved from smear campaigns into criminal cases, fines, book seizures, and informal blacklists. A new wave of discussion followed the closure in January 2026 of Popcorn Books, a publisher active since 2018 and known for young adult and queer fiction, including the novel Summer in a Pioneer Tie.
After attacks from prominent conservative public figures in 2022, the book was pulled from sale, its authors left Russia, and they were designated foreign agents. Control of Popcorn Books later passed to Eksmo-AST, but that did not protect the project. In 2025, investigators opened a case against staff from Popcorn Books and Individuum for allegedly “organizing an extremist community” over books the authorities said contained “LGBT propaganda.”
“Pressure on literature is an attempt to simplify and standardize the surrounding space,” Freedom Letters founder Georgy Urushadze said.
Bookstores have also come under similar pressure. In 2025, Moscow’s Falanster was fined 800,000 rubles, while co-founder Boris Kupriyanov was fined 100,000 rubles. St. Petersburg’s Podpisnye Izdaniya received the same 800,000-ruble fine after an inspection and the seizure of books. In January 2026, the Chitai-Gorod chain also faced proceedings under a similar article.
Sources interviewed by the publication say the market increasingly operates under self-censorship: small stores remove risky titles in advance, and publishers decline manuscripts that could trigger losses or prosecution. At the same time, they say demand has not disappeared. Urushadze noted that Summer in a Pioneer Tie sold nearly 400,000 copies, while 45 texts were submitted to the queer category of the Freedom Letters prize in 2024. Experts believe such literature will continue to appear in exile, through independent projects, and in digital formats.