Russian publisher's sales director gets suspended sentence for selling LGBT books
Artem Vakhlyayev, head of sales at Eksmo publishing house, faces a four-year suspended prison term requested by prosecutors for selling queer literature amid Russia's crackdown on LGBT content.
Russian prosecutors have asked a Moscow court to sentence Artem Vakhlyayev, head of the sales department at the publishing house Eksmo, to a four-year suspended prison term on charges of participating in an extremist organization and recruiting others into it. Vakhlyayev pleaded guilty and testified against alleged co-conspirators. The case is being heard under a simplified procedure at the Zamoskvoretsky District Court. The defense's request for a closed session was denied.
Vakhlyayev was detained in May 2025 along with former Popcorn Books sales director Pavel Ivanov and Dmitry Protopopov, one of the heads of Popcorn Books and Individuum. They spent about a year under house arrest before being released with restrictions on certain activities.
According to prosecutors, after Russia banned the nonexistent "international LGBT movement" in December 2023, the defendants decided to sell off remaining stocks of banned books. Prosecutors allege an organized group within Eksmo worked to involve children in the LGBT movement, citing sales to underage girls, one of whom was part of a controlled purchase.
Vakhlyayev, who handled warehouse logistics and order fulfillment, declined to give detailed testimony. Interrogation transcripts indicate that "red" (already banned) and "yellow" (potentially problematic) book lists were compiled in mid-2023 by Popcorn Books editor-in-chief Satenik Anastasyan. Vakhlyayev stated that Alexandra Shipetina, a senior Eksmo-AST executive and director of Individuum Print, proposed re-registering and selling books under the counter. He also named Eksmo CEO Yevgeny Kapyev, distribution director Anatoly Norovyatkin, and RDTs-Almaty director Ivan Basharatyan as involved.
Ivanov has already been sentenced to a four-year suspended term after cooperating with investigators. He claimed in court, "I fought against [LGBT] my whole life, going back to Soviet times, when I caught perverts as a member of a Komsomol patrol."
The case, dubbed the "book publishers' case" in media, saw several Eksmo executives detained in April 2026, including Kapyev, who were released after questioning. Russian media reported that Protopopov, Vakhlyayev, and Ivanov testified against Eksmo's top management.
