May 04, 2026

Pushkin Is Out


Pushkin Is Out
Careful.
 
Photo by Ramil Sitdikov / @ramilsitdikov

On March 1, amendments to the federal law “On Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances” were introduced. Most notably, it criminalizes the distribution of works with references to drugs, including classic literature.

Sergey Mironov, the current head of the A Just Russia political party in the State Duma, expressed his disapproval with the new labeling requirements. He speculated the reasoning behind Mikhail Lermontov’s beloved adventure novel, A Hero of Our Time, making the list: maybe it was really about smuggling?

A Russian e-book platform concurs: both A Hero of Our Time and a collection of Alexander Pushkin's poems contain warnings about content that mentions narcotic use and drug trafficking.

Mironov bluntly stated that he “certainly did not become a drug addict and never experienced any cravings” after reading Russian classics. Furthermore, the labeling only draws more attention to the forbidden topics.

Mironov plans to take his complaints one step further by appealing to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, in hopes of gaining further clarification on the labeling of classic works. “Everyone agrees that we do not need the values of LGBT or Nazis…” Yet guidelines are still needed, so that the “cleansing of our media environment from all the filth does not turn into a celebration of bureaucratic bungling.”

Mironov’s criticism cautiously pokes at the broader absurdity of media censorship laws, especially as the distribution of works of Russian literary heritage is increasingly controlled. According to Mironov, even mild instances of alcohol usage in films that passed Soviet censors are now being muted.

Although the Russian Book Union’s dystopian compiling of titles (to proactively avoid the risk of fines) shows the public's appreciation of literature in a dismal state, one thing is clear: Mironov’s hunger for a classic read could actually help salvage the reputation of a few good books.

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