Russia Starts Labeling Pushkin, Gogol, and Other Classics Over Drug Propaganda Ban...

Russia has begun labeling works by Pushkin, Gogol, and other classics because of the law banning drug propaganda

Digital services and official portals have started placing drug warnings on books by Russian classics, including Nikolai Gogol, Alexander Pushkin, and Mikhail Bulgakov. “Vёрстка” drew attention to this.

Warning labels appeared on Gogol’s novellas “The Nose” and “Viy.” The labels can be found in the digital libraries Litres and KION Strokes (an MTS project), as well as on some product pages on Ozon. Both text versions and audiobooks have been marked.

Pushkin received a warning on a collection of poems from the period 1814–1836. On Litres, a collection of children’s stories by Leo Tolstoy and a collection by Ivan Turgenev, including “Asya” and “Fathers and Sons,” were also labeled.

In Bulgakov’s case, the warnings were found not only on digital services but also on the Moscow mayor’s office portal. The label accompanies collections containing “Morphine,” “A Young Doctor’s Notebook,” and “Notes on the Cuff.” In addition, similar marks appeared on Litres for a collection that includes “The White Guard” and “The Master and Margarita.” Product pages with such labels can also be found on Ozon.

At the same time, none of the works mentioned is included in the list of books that the Russian Book Union had previously recommended for labeling. Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the State Duma Committee on State Building, also said that books by Tolstoy and Bulgakov would not fall under the drug propaganda law, which came into force on March 1, 2026.

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