Glukhovsky's new war-era novel 'Registration' sparks debate over an émigré's right to judge

Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, best known for the "Metro 2033" series, published his new novel "Registration" ("Registratsiya") online free of charge on September 17. Set in present-day, wartime Russia, the book follows Ulyana, a pregnant woman trying to quickly marry her boyfriend Sasha, a contract soldier, so she can claim a larger share of state war benefits.

Plot and setting

The story opens in Vologda, where Sasha's mother Tatyana uses her son's military pay to cover a mortgage while his girlfriend Ulyana works as a massage therapist and dreams of their future together. When Sasha is found in a Moscow hospital having lost his legs in combat, his mother and girlfriend begin fighting over his benefits while he is still alive. Ulyana travels to Moscow, staying with relatives — bookstore owner Maksim and event decorator Marina — whose household becomes a window into different ways Muscovites have adapted to wartime life.

Critical reception

Literary critic Liza Birger notes that the novel spares no one, criticizing émigrés just as harshly as those who remained in Russia. Still, many readers inside Russia have reacted to the book as an unfair accusation, saying they no longer recognize their country in its portrayal. Glukhovsky himself reportedly tries not to draw a sharp line between those who left and those who stayed.

Author's situation

Glukhovsky was added to Russia's "foreign agents" registry in October 2022 and was sentenced in absentia in 2023 to eight years in a penal colony over an antiwar Telegram post. He has lived outside Russia since 2022. Critics say the novel continues a theme running through his earlier work: ordinary people gradually turning into monsters as they adapt to a brutal new reality.