A court in Daghestan has fined a bookstore chain ₽800,000 ($8,600) for selling books that contain ‘LGBT propaganda’, including Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness.
The Leninsky District Court in Makhachkala fined the bookstore chain, Chitai-Gorod, on 16 March, according to Russian independent media outlet Mediazona. The chain is owned by OOO Novy Knizhny M.
According to the case materials, the grounds for the protocol were the books Beartown and Us Against You by Swedish author Fredrik Backman, as well as the novel The Left Hand of Darkness by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. These books were sold at a Chitai-Gorod shop located in the Etazhi (‘Floors’) shopping centre in Makhachkala.
As stated in the court ruling, a customer, identified as A.M. Kadieva, purchased the books, identified what she described as ‘signs of propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’, and handed them over, along with receipts, to officers of the Centre for Combating Extremism of the Interior Ministry in Daghestan.
The conclusion that the books contained ‘LGBT propaganda’ was supported by expert assessments from specialists at Transbaikal State University. Philosophy Professor Artem Zhukov concluded that the works contained ‘signs of ideas associated with the promotion of homosexuality’.
Professor of Literature Lyudmila Kamedina stated that the texts demonstrated a ‘homosexual orientation’ and could influence readers. Associate Professor Nadezhda Antsiferova noted in her report that the books contained ideas of ‘approval and acceptance of non-binary relationships’ as well as the ‘unnecessariness of traditional spiritual and moral values’.
‘Under the banner of liberation from prejudice, the authors call for the abolition of the traditional social value system and its replacement with sexual anarchism, whereby individuals are free to choose their own gender identity at any point in their lives. The publications have a negative impact on perceptions of traditional notions of family and society’, the report said.
The court recognised these expert opinions as admissible evidence and stated that they met legal requirements. The ruling notes that the dissemination of such information may form ‘non-traditional sexual attitudes’ and a ‘distorted perception of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional relationships’.
ООО Novy Knizhny M has not sent a representative to the court hearing, although the company had been duly notified. No requests to postpone the hearing were submitted, and the judge decided to proceed in their absence.
The court found the legal entity guilty and imposed a fine of ₽800,000 ($8,600), the minimum provided sanction under the article. The court also cited a mitigating circumstance — ‘voluntary cessation of the unlawful conduct’.
The ruling includes references to the Russian constitution and family code, stating that the family, defined as a union between a man and a woman, is under state protection. The court held that the dissemination of information about ‘non-traditional sexual relations’ must not contradict the ‘foundations of the legal order’ established in Russian law.
According to the court decision, the fine must be paid within 60 days from the moment the ruling enters into legal force. Failure to pay may result in additional administrative liability. The decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Daghestan within 10 days of receiving the ruling.
As Mediazona notes, the wording of the expert conclusions used in this case matches those used in a similar case in Chita, the capital of Zabaykalsky region. In late December 2025, a court there also fined Chitai-Gorod ₽800,000 ($8,600) on similar grounds. In Izhevsk, a protocol was drawn up against a shop, but the case did not result in a fine due to a procedural error.
In total, from late December 2025 to late January 2026, at least seven administrative protocols were drawn up against Chitai-Gorod shops under the ‘LGBT propaganda’ article. In most cases, they concerned books by Backman and Le Guin.
The novel The Left Hand of Darkness, first published in 1969, is considered one of the most notable works of 20th-century science fiction. It depicts a society without a fixed division between male and female sexes. Backman’s novels Beartown and Us Against You focus on life in a small Swedish town and describe social and personal conflicts.
Together with a third novel, The Winners, these books form a trilogy often referred to as Backman’s ‘hockey cycle’. In December, the Russian Book Union conducted a review of these works. The review did not identify signs of ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’ in The Winners, and the book was returned to sale.
A law introducing a full ban in Russia on the ‘propaganda of LGBT, paedophilia, and gender reassignment’, as well as the display of such content to minors, was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December 2022. Violations may result in fines of up to ₽400,000 ($4,300) for individuals and up to ₽5,000,000 ($54,000) for legal entities.
Previously, Russian legislation prohibited only ‘LGBT propaganda’ among minors, while the display of such content was not regulated.
