General Director of Russia's largest publishing house "Eksmo" detained. Many of their books are sold in Belarus too
The General Director of Russia's largest publishing house "Eksmo", Yevgeny Kapiev, has been detained in a case related to extremism — the so-called "publishers' case", connected to the publication of the novel "Summer in a Pioneer Tie". The "publishers' case" was initiated back in May 2025, and three defendants were placed under house arrest, writes BBC.
"Eksmo". Photo: yandex.by/maps
Yevgeny Kapiev, General Director of "Eksmo", and several other employees were brought in for questioning by the Investigative Committee as part of an extremism case, the publishing house's press service stated.
REN TV channel claims that "Eksmo" management "developed a scheme for distributing LGBT literature among adults". A criminal case has been opened under an article on extremism (the non-existent "international LGBT movement" was recognized as extremist in Russia in 2023).
According to sources in the book market who spoke to the BBC Russian Service, Kapiev was detained in connection with the case of Popcorn Books and Individuum publishing houses.
"Publishers' Case"
Popcorn Books, a division of Individuum (controlled by the "Eksmo-AST" holding since 2023), published the book "Summer in a Pioneer Tie" in 2021 by Elena Malisova and Katerina Silvanova (real names — Elena Prokasheva and Katerina Dudko; in February 2023, the writers were added to the register of "foreign agents") about a romantic relationship between a pioneer and a camp counselor in a Soviet summer camp. In 2022, the publishing house released a sequel to the novel — "What the Swallow Keeps Silent About".
The novel "Summer in a Pioneer Tie", published with a circulation of 200,000 copies in Russia, became the reason for opening the country's first case of "LGBT propaganda" in January 2023.
In May 2025, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case on organizing the activities of an extremist organization against several employees of Individuum. They were accused of "from November 2023 to September 2024, for mercenary motives, publishing and selling books that promote the activities of the LGBT movement, recognized as an extremist organization on the territory of Russia."
The head of Individuum and Popcorn Books, Dmitry Protopopov, former sales director Pavel Ivanov, and Artyom Vakhlyaev, responsible for warehouse and distribution of literature, were placed under house arrest by the court. In February 2026, the arrest period was extended until May 13.
Eksmo-AST Holding
"Eksmo-AST" is the largest publishing holding in Russia. Its share in the book market is estimated at 70%. In September 2023 (when "Summer in a Pioneer Tie" had already led to the "LGBT propaganda" case), "Eksmo" acquired a 51% stake in Individuum's capital.
When Individuum employees were detained, "Eksmo" representatives emphasized that it was not about "Eksmo" itself, but about a publishing house controlled by the holding. "Eksmo itself has no connection to extremism," the company claimed.
As BBC learned, during the investigation, it was revealed that money from the sale of prohibited books went into "Eksmo"'s coffers.
Kapiev himself, after the detention of Popcorn Books and Individuum employees, left Russia for some time but returned a few months later, hoping that "since they hadn't touched him for a year, everything was fine," a source said.
Popcorn Books announced its closure in January 2026; the publishing team launched a new project called Soda Books.
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