Prosecutors have asked a Moscow court to sentence Artyom Vakhlyayev, head of the sales department at the publishing house Eksmo, to a four-year suspended prison term on charges stemming from the sale of queer literature, the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported.
Vakhlyayev was accused of taking part in the activities of an extremist organization and of recruiting others into it.
The Eksmo employee admitted guilt and testified against the “co-conspirators” in a scheme to sell queer literature. His case is being heard under a simplified procedure at the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow. At the start of the hearing, the defense asked that the proceedings be moved to a closed session; the court refused.
Vakhlyayev, former Popcorn Books sales director Pavel Ivanov, and Dmitry Protopopov, one of the heads of Popcorn Books and Individuum, were detained in May 2025. They spent roughly a year under house arrest before being released under a ban on certain activities.
According to the prosecution, in December 2023 — after Russia banned the nonexistent “international LGBT movement” — the defendants decided to sell off remaining stocks of “banned” books. Prosecutors contend that an “organized group” within Eksmo worked to draw children into the “LGBT movement.” The case cites book sales to underage girls, one of whom turned out to be part of a controlled purchase.
Investigators believe Vakhlyayev was responsible for warehouse logistics, order fulfillment, and other aspects of processing book sales.
He declined to give detailed testimony in court. Interrogation transcripts read into the record show that the “red” list (books already banned in Russia) and the “yellow” list (books that might raise questions) were compiled in mid-2023 by Popcorn Books editor-in-chief Satenik Anastasyan.
According to Vakhlyayev, it was Alexandra Shipetina, a senior Eksmo-AST executive and director of Individuum Print, who proposed re-registering some of the books and selling them under the counter. He also named Eksmo CEO Yevgeny Kapyev, distribution director Anatoly Norovyatkin, and RDTs-Almaty director Ivan Basharatyan as involved in the book sales.
Ivanov, the former Popcorn Books sales director, has already been sentenced to a four-year suspended prison term. He also struck a deal with investigators and testified against other defendants. Ivanov told the 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 against Ivanov and Vakhlyayev has become known in the media as the “book publishers’ case.” In April 2026, several Eksmo executives were detained as part of this case, including Kapyev. They were released after questioning. Russian media, citing sources, reported that Protopopov, Vakhlyayev, and Ivanov had testified against Eksmo’s top managers.
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