Two Meduza Books Nominated for PolitProsvet Prize Longlist

The longlist for the PolitProsvet prize, a special category of the Prosvetitel award, has been announced, featuring 13 books that help readers understand modern sociopolitical realities in Russia. Topics covered include the nature of Russian autocracy, the digital Gulag, the crisis of legal institutions, and Russia's historical evolution. Two books from Meduza's publishing house are among the nominees: "Temple of War: The People and Ideas That Made Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Possible" by Ilya Venyavkin, and "Where Are Dictatorships Drifting? Russian Autocracy and the Invasion of Ukraine" by Konstantin Gaaze. Other nominated works include titles by Timur Atnashev, Andrei Arkhangelsky, Roman Badanin and Mikhail Rubin, Sergei Girin, Andrei Zakharov, Elena Lukyanova, Leonid Nikitinsky, Konstantin Pakhalyuk, Alexandra Prokopenko, Sasha Skochilenko and S.M. Favorski, and Dmitry Travin. The shortlist will be revealed in late September 2026. The Prosvetitel prize was established by the Dynastiya foundation, which was shut down in 2015 after being labeled a foreign agent. The prize is now supported by the Zimin Foundation and rewards the best popular science books written in Russian.