Security forces raid Russia's largest publisher and detain its CEO in ‘LGBT propaganda’ case

Russian security forces raided the offices of Eksmo, the country's largest publishing house, on Tuesday, targeting the company's senior management, according to state media.

The searches were reportedly carried out as part of a criminal investigation into the organisation of activities of an "extremist organisation”, referring to the sale of books with LGBTQ-related content.

Eksmo CEO Yevgeny Kapyev was detained during the searches. Business news outlet RBC, citing sources, reports that Kapyev is suspected of involvement in the distribution of the novels Summer in a Pioneer Tie and Silence of the Swallow by Elena Malisova and Katerina Silvanova, both of which depict queer relationships. The outlets Ren TV, Mash, and Baza report that Kapyev is accused of running a "scheme to distribute LGBT literature" to minors.

Mash reports that a total of three senior Eksmo managers were detained on Tuesday, including Aleksandra Shipetina, director of the publisher's fiction imprint.

Tuesday's raids appear to be an extension of a case opened last year against independent publishers Popcorn Books and Individuum, also over alleged "LGBT propaganda". Sources close to publisher AST — which has been part of the same Eksmo-AST group since 2012 — and a representative of the broader book industry told Novaya Gazeta Europe as much. In May of last year, security forces raided Eksmo employees in connection with that earlier case, detaining more than ten people; three were placed under house arrest. Popcorn Books announced its closure in January of this year.

Following Tuesday's searches, Eksmo sent bookstores a list of titles to pull from shelves, including Summer in a Pioneer Tie and the novel Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman. Other publishers quickly followed suit.

Beyond the LGBT-related charges, bookstores are also under pressure over titles connected to individuals and organisations designated as "foreign agents" or "undesirable". Last week, Eksmo-AST group president Oleg Novikov warned that if Russia's repressive laws were applied to the letter, more than 50% of books in Russian libraries could be subject to removal.

Sources close to the publishing industry told Novaya Gazeta Europe that the Russian authorities may have an additional motive: gaining control of Eksmo's assets. As the dominant player in the Russian book market, the company could be of interest to one of several large state-aligned corporations, a source said.