Statement by the Bureau of the Moscow Regional Branch of the Yabloko Party, 21.04.2026

Photo: Vladimir Dorokhov (left), Kirill Goncharov (centre), Nikolai Rybakov and Ivan Bolshakov (background) / Photo by Moscow Yabloko

On 21 April, searches were carried out at the Eksmo publishing group in Moscow, and its director general was detained. We regard this as yet another instance of the arbitrary application of anti-extremism legislation and of pressure on the cultural sphere.

The initiation of a criminal case for the distribution of literature represents a substitution of concepts: the state is using the law as an instrument of censorship, rather than combating genuine threats.

The decision to designate an effectively non-existent organisation as “extremist” has created a legal basis for prosecution on vague and politically motivated grounds.

The result is that publishers, authors, and the book market in Russia’s largest region are subject to pressure on what has become a permanent basis, giving rise in turn to an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship.

The active readership in Moscow numbers in the millions. Moscow consistently tops the rankings of Russia’s most book-reading cities. Around 28% of Muscovites read five or more books in any given six-month period; 71% prefer print books.

This case is not aimed at protecting society. It is aimed at restricting freedom of speech and access to information.

We demand the following:

— the immediate termination of the criminal prosecution of Eksmo’s leadership;

— adherence to legal standards and an end to the arbitrary interpretation of the law;

— an end to the use of anti-extremism legislation for the purposes of censorship.

We call on Moscow’s law enforcement agencies to abandon the practices of initiating criminal cases against cultural institutions.

Freedom of speech and of publishing cannot be the subject of criminal prosecution.