July 14, 2023

Unwritten Resolution


Unwritten Resolution
Pixabay, Pexels.

Due to a statute of limitations, the Avtozavodsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod has terminated an administrative case against Novy Knizhny ("New Books") M LLC regarding alleged "LGBT propaganda" among minors (Part 2 of Article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). 

The case stemmed from an incident reported by NewsNN, where a teenager was sold a book that allegedly "promoted non-traditional sexual values" at the Chitai-Gorod ("Read the City") bookstore in Nizhny Novgorod on November 28, 2022.

The book in question was not named, although an anonymous source told NewsNN, “I can only say that the book was very famous for teenagers at the time.”

Last winter, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that the Chitai-Gorod store chain withdrew certain books that were suspected of falling under the law on LGBT propaganda signed by Vladimir Putin on December 5. However, a NewsNN correspondent confirmed that some bookstores in Nizhny Novgorod, including Chitai-gorod, continued to sell books of a similar nature.

NewsNN reported that at Chitai-Gorod “some books by the infamous Popcorn publishing house are on the shelves, as well as works by Tunxu, Buckman, Medina Mirai, and Emma Scot – appearing on the lists of LGBT literature in recent years on the web.” Although the store withdrew Summer in a Pioneer Necktie and What the Swallow is Silent About in response to legislative orders, “There was no order to touch the classics,” Chitai-Gorod said.

You Might Also Like

AI Will Watch You
  • February 13, 2023

AI Will Watch You

Russian authorities plan to use artificial intelligence to scour the interwebs for undesirable political information.
Anti-LGBTQ Law Has Broad Ripples
  • December 11, 2022

Anti-LGBTQ Law Has Broad Ripples

President Vladimir Putin signed a law against LGBTQ "propaganda." Is this only a homophobic act? Or is it part of something bigger?
Homophobia Codified
  • August 30, 2022

Homophobia Codified

The Russian state is preparing to pass new laws banning "gay propaganda" after a recent book led to public outrage.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955