Russia: authorities target publishing house
Several members of the management team at the Russian publishing group Eksmo were arrested in Moscow on Tuesday. They are accused of 'extremist behaviour' and of 'disseminating LGBT literature among minors'. Since May 2025, a court case has been underway against three of the publisher's employees who are charged with disseminating youth literature featuring homosexual content.
Secret-service hijack
Kirill Martynov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe, sees the move as an attempt to seize a profitable company:
“Eksmo is a lucrative business. ... To resist the temptation of such an attractive asset in 2026, notwithstanding the extensive connections of its owner Oleg Novikov, would be impossible. Which is why the 'publishers' case', which has been dragging on for a year now with no visible results (it seems there is nothing to bring before the court), has seen a new development today: ... This is a very clear proposition to share the business with the 'new heterosexuals' in the Cheka. An undertaking as vital to building a traditional society as the book trade cannot, under any circumstances, be left to private individuals.”
Regime shooting itself in the foot
Author Boris Akunin interprets the move on Facebook as the next step in the Russian regime's self-destruction:
“When I see how the bright sparks in the Kremlin are banning the internet (i.e., attempting to undermine the second component of the magical pair 'bread and circuses'), I say: Keep going! Even the most backward sections of the population are starting to realise that this is no life. The Russian secret services' raid on the Eksmo publishing house had a similar effect on me. The head of this leading publishing group is now being accused of extremism and of founding a 'criminal organisation for LGBTQ propaganda among young people'. At Eksmo of all places, the quietest and most loyal of them all, where they are always willing to please the authorities.”