In Vladivostok, books by Ulitskaya and Parfyonov are sold as foreign agents

In one of the Vladivostok bookstores, books by Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Leonid Parfyonov, and Alexei Polarinov are sold wrapped in wrapping paper with the handwritten inscription “Inoagent.” Photos from the bookshelf were published by the “Dozhd” TV channel. At the same time, none of the authors is included in the register of foreign agents in Russia.

Journalist Leonid Parfyonov’s books from the “Namedny” series, Alexei Polarinov’s novel “Center of Gravity” and Ludmila Ulitskaya’s collection of stories and short stories “Sonechka” were censored. “Rain” does not specify the name of the store.

From December 1, 2022, amendments to the law “On control over the activities of persons under foreign influence” will be effective in Russia. Books and other printed materials of authors recognized by foreign agents must be sold only with the marking “18+” and in sealed packaging. The recommendations do not say that the packaging should be opaque, but some publishers and bookstore chains prefer to present the books of foreign agents wrapped in opaque film or paper.

The register of foreign agents maintained by the Ministry of Justice includes many writers and publicists whose books previously became bestsellers and received literary awards. Among them are Boris Akunin, Dmitry Bykov, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Mikhail Zygar, Yulia Latynina, Tamara Eidelman, Ekaterina Shulman and others.

• Bookstores, publishers, and bookselling networks subject authors to censorship for other reasons as well. After the adoption in Russia of a law prohibiting “LGBT propaganda” for all ages, stores are removing books that mention non-traditional sexual relations.
• In December, literary commentator Sergey Lebedenko reported that Moscow libraries received lists of books that must be removed from the shelves – even classics of world literature, such as Haruka Murakami or Michael Cunningham, are included there. In January, it became known that the publishing house “Alpina Publisher” deleted part of the text comparing the USSR and Nazi Germany from one of the books on the history of the 20th century.