Yeltsin Center cancels event with Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter after complaints from Russian nationalist group and pro-Kremlin bloggers

The Yeltsin Center, a cultural and educational institution in Yekaterinburg, has canceled an event featuring political scientist Nina Khrushcheva, the great-granddaughter of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, citing “technical reasons.”

Khrushcheva had been scheduled to present her latest book, Nikita Khrushchev: An Outlier of the System, on November 26.

The cancellation came after members of the radical traditionalist group Call of the People urged the authorities to stop Khrushcheva’s appearance, according to the Telegram channel Shot. The group accused her of “promoting a radical anti-Russian position” and “repeatedly condemning the Special Military Operation,” the Kremlin’s euphemism for its war in Ukraine. They also called for her to be declared a “foreign agent.”

Earlier on Monday, Russian pro-war Telegram channels shared messages criticizing Khrushcheva’s “anti-Russian” remarks, with some labeling her a “Russophobe.”

Khrushcheva, a professor at The New School in New York, has lived in the United States for more than 30 years.