The raids are part of Moscow’s staunch social conservatism and crackdown on political life.
Published on 21 April 2026
Russian police have raided the country’s top publishing house on suspicion of spreading “gay propaganda”, local media report.
Police reportedly seized thousands of books on Tuesday and took Eksmo Chief Executive Yevgeny Kapiev in for questioning. The raid appears to be part of Moscow’s pivot to radical social conservatism with ongoing repressive laws on political life and an aggressive foreign policy.
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Eksmo communications director Yekaterina Kozanova told the AFP news agency that police targeted Kapiev under a “criminal case on extremism” over the publication of books “related to LGBT topics.”
Kozanova said the company’s finance director, distribution head and deputy commercial director were also questioned.
Eksmo is suspected of unofficially marketing books, including novels, that promote “gay propaganda” to Russian youth, broadcaster Ren-TV reports.
The investigation into Eksmo was launched last year after authorities said “LGBT propaganda” was “detected” in books published by the Popcorn Books subsidiary and they arrested several members of its staff.
ultraconservative turn
Books condoning homosexual relationships have been banned in Russia for more than 10 years.
The law has recently been tightened, requiring publishers to remove publications and destroy entire editions if they depict same-sex relationships.
Persecution of LGBTQ individuals, organizations, and communities has intensified over the past decade as the Kremlin has denounced “traditional values”. That campaign also includes a ban on films, books, art and culture, among other areas of social life.
Cultural producers have also faced significant pressure to focus on giants of Russian culture. Biographies of Mikhail Bulgakov, author of The Master and Margarita, and poet, actor and singer Vladimir Vysotsky should be marked with warning labels because they are viewed as promoting drug abuse.
The ultra-conservative social shift has accelerated since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In 2023, the Supreme Court of Russia ruled that LGBTQ activists should be designated as “extremists” and the activities of the “international LGBTQ movement” should be banned.
Courts have issued fines and prison sentences to people displaying LGBTQ “symbols” such as clothing, jewelery or posters bearing the rainbow flag.
Out of 49 European countries, the Rainbow Europe organization ranked Russia third from the bottom in terms of tolerance of LGBTQ people.
