Russia’s censorship agency bans two dystopian novels by Olga Ptitseva about an alternate Russia ruled by the ‘Party of Cold’

Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, has banned Olga Ptitseva’s novels “Dvesti trety den zimy” (“The 203rd Day of Winter”) and “Vesna vody” (“Spring of Water”). A notice appeared on the God Literatury portal on October 7, Vyorstka reported.

“The book in question has been added to Roskomnadzor’s Unified Register of Prohibited Information and the Registry of Book Assessments kept by the Russian Book Union’s expert center and must be withdrawn from public circulation in Russia,” the website said.

On October 2, Roskomnadzor ordered the portal to remove information about “Vesna vody.” On July 16, the portal had removed information about “Dvesti trety den zimy,” the first book of the duology, at the regulator’s request.

The books have also disappeared from the website of their publisher, Polyandria No Age, and from the catalogs of LitRes and Chitai-Gorod. Polyandria confirmed that Roskomnadzor had banned them. The ban may have been prompted by signs of “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships” in the books, The Blueprint reported.

The two novels form a dystopian duology set in an alternate Russia, where eternal winter sets in after the Party of Cold comes to power. Residents are required to maintain a prescribed level of snow cover, food is distributed using ration cards, and dissenters are sent to freezers.

Ptitseva confirmed that her books had been withdrawn from sale. “Friends, it’s true that DTDZ [the novel ‘Dvesti trety den zimy’] has been pulled from sale, but I’m OK. Hugs to all of you,” she said on her Telegram channel.

Olga Ptitseva has written several novels and collections of contemporary prose. In 2023, her novel “Tam, gde tsvetet polyn” (“Where Wormwood Blooms”) was adapted into a television series of the same name. A year later, the book was nominated for the Yasnaya Polyana literary prize in the Youth category. Her novel “Vyidi iz shkafa” (“Come Out of the Closet”) was shortlisted for the FICTION35 prize, while “Krai chudes” (“Land of Wonders”) was longlisted for the Lyceum prize.