By Lucy Papachristou
April 22 (Reuters) - One of Russia's largest publishers said on Wednesday that some staff were being questioned by authorities over possible "LGBT propaganda" in its book catalogue, part of broader limits on gay and transgender rights under President Vladimir Putin.
Russian media reported on Tuesday raids by Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, at the Eksmo publisher's offices in Moscow and said several employees had been detained over a year-old criminal case.
With Putin seeking to promote an image of Russia as a guardian of traditional moral values in contrast with a decadent West, Moscow has designated what it calls the "LGBT movement" as extremist and those supporting it as terrorists.
Private Russian companies including music channels, online film distributors and book publishers are routinely fined for hosting LGBT content.
In a statement on Wednesday, however, Eksmo denied any "investigative actions" had occurred and said no books were seized. But it said Eksmo's general director Evgeniy Kapiev and three other employees had been taken for questioning.
It was unclear if they had been formally detained.
Under Russian law, charges must be filed within 48 hours of detention. The Kremlin has not commented on the case and the Investigative Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CASE LINKED TO DEFUNCT COMPANY
In its statement, Eksmo said the probe was related to titles published by another company, Popcorn Books, which was bought by Eksmo in 2023 but closed this year.
Popcorn specialised in books for teenagers and young adults, some with LGBT characters or storylines. "Summer in a Pioneer's Tie", the story of two boys who fell in love at a Soviet summer camp, was a hit in Russia, selling over 200,000 copies in its first six months.
"The criminal case was opened in May 2025 and concerned several titles with characteristics of LGBT propaganda, published by Popcorn Books prior to its merger with Eksmo," Eksmo said.
Several dozen books with LGBT content were not accounted for in stock records and were sold during the closure of Popcorn, prompting the charges, it said. "We assume that the current questioning is linked to the testimony given by the Popcorn Books employees who are accused in this case."
Earlier this month, Eksmo told the RBC newspaper it was using artificial intelligence and other methods to review its inventory - which includes 3 million titles stretching back to 1990 - for banned content.
(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
