Biographies of Bulgakov and Vysotsky to be labeled under Russia’s drug ‘promotion’ law

Source: RIA Novosti

Biographical books about poet Vladimir Vysotsky and writer Mikhail Bulgakov are to be labeled under Russia’s law banning drug “propaganda,” the Russian state news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS reported.

The agencies found the information in a list maintained by the Russian Book Union, which catalogues books containing references to drugs that are subject to mandatory labeling.

Among the books to be labeled are a volume about Vysotsky and three about Bulgakov: a biography of Vysotsky by Vladimir Novikov, a biography of Bulgakov by Alexei Varlamov published in the Lives of Remarkable People series (fifth edition), a memoir about Bulgakov by Lyubov Belozerskaya, and a guide to locations from The Master and Margarita by Yekaterina Gorpinko.

Earlier additions to the list included books by Viktor Pelevin, Sergei Lukyanenko, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, and Haruki Murakami, as well as translations of classic literature published after August 1, 1990 — among them novels by Erich Maria Remarque and John Steinbeck.

The list also includes several other titles from the Lives of Remarkable People series: biographies of Venedikt Yerofeyev by Alexander Senkevich, Valery Bryusov by Vasily Molodyakov, and Vera Kholodnaya by Yevgenia Klimova.

Amendments to Russia’s law banning drug propaganda took effect on March 1, 2026, prohibiting any mention of drugs in media, books, music, and film without a special label. The label must accompany all works published in Russia after August 1, 1990.

Russian authorities developed an AI-based censorship program for publishers. The neural network flagged the surname of writer Denis Dragunskiy as drug propaganda, Yevgeny Kapyev, CEO of the publisher Eksmo, said. The AI determined that Dragunskiy fell under the ban because of the word “drug,” Kapyev said.

Eksmo also reported that some authors have refused to censor their texts as required by the law.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

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Biographies of Bulgakov and Vysotsky to be labeled under Russia’s drug ‘promotion’ law

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