The independent Russian house Individuum announced its dissolution this week, ending an eleven-year experiment in adventurous non-fiction and speculative fiction. The decision was disclosed by editor-in-chief Alexei Kiselyov in a terse Telegram post that described the closure as “sudden, but not unexpected.” While he offered no detailed explanation, he confirmed that manuscripts currently in progress will be transferred to other publishers.
Criminal proceedings against senior staff
In May 2025, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office launched a case against several top managers of Individuum and its youth-oriented imprint Popcorn Books. Prosecutors alleged that the two imprints disseminated material linked to the so-called “international LGBT movement,” which has been classified as an extremist organization under Russian law. Three individuals – Dmitry Protopopov, the former executive director, and his colleagues Artem Vakhlyaev and Pavel Ivanov – were charged with organizing the activities of an extremist group (article 282.2, part 3 of the Criminal Code).
During the summer court session, all three were handed four-year suspended sentences and a prohibition on future publishing work. The verdict cemented the legal basis for shutting down the companies, as the state now treats any further distribution of the questioned titles as a criminal act.
Impact on Individuum and its subsidiaries
Individuum began in 2015 with a mission to bring bold, vision-driven titles to Russian readers. In 2018 it launched Popcorn Books, a label focused on young-adult literature. Both houses were later acquired by the country’s largest publishing conglomerate, Eksmo which took a controlling stake in 2023. After the arrests, Eksmo distanced itself from the two imprints, withdrawing them from retail shelves and issuing a list of some 50 titles that had to be returned or destroyed. The removal order included works from both Individuum and Popcorn Books, effectively cutting off their distribution channels.
According to the prosecution’s evidence, after the seizure of books from public stores, Protopopov attempted to circulate the remaining stock through private networks, corporate warehouses and remote sales platforms. This alleged continuation of sales was cited as aggravating conduct during sentencing. With the legal cloud hovering over the brand, Kiselyov’s announcement that the remaining projects will be handed over to other houses appears to be the only viable path for authors to see their work published.
Broader crackdown on media and cultural expression
The closure of Individuum fits into a wider pattern of repression aimed at independent cultural actors in Russia. Earlier in 2025, several Eksmo employees were detained for alleged LGBTQ+ “propaganda” and “extremism.” In the same year, the Ministry of Justice labeled former Individuum editor-in-chief Felix Sandalov as a “foreign agent.” More recently, the independent outlet The Moscow Times was declared “undesirable,” exposing its staff to criminal liability for routine reporting.
These measures rely on a legal framework that brands the entire international LGBT movement as extremist, allowing authorities to pursue penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment. By targeting publishers, the state not only silences specific voices but also sends a chilling signal to the broader literary community about the limits of permissible content.
