Lukashenko Burns Books
- Pavel Latushka
- Mar 31
- 5 min read
On the banning of books and the persecution of the intelligentsia in our country
Let us first turn to fiction. The novel It's Hard to Be a God by the Soviet science fiction writers the Strugatsky brothers depicts a society — a fantastical world resembling the Middle Ages — where the authorities consciously destroy intellect and enlightenment. There, under the rule of a local tyrant, education is equated with crime, and those who dare to think, write, or learn face violent death. "Literate? Impale him! Writing verses? Impale him! Know your tables? Impale him — you know too much!" — these words from the novel ring today like an alarm bell for us.
In the Strugatskys' fictional world, the destruction of "bookmen" — scholars, poets, doctors, engineers — was not an act of barbarism but a systemic strategy of power: to keep the people in silent and manageable "greyness." The protagonist of the novel tries to save these people, preserving the seeds of reason. This literary image remarkably accurately echoes what is happening in Belarus today.
According to official data, the Republican List of Extremist Materials contains more than 9,000 items. Of these, 225 printed publications are banned from distribution, and 190 of them were added in 2025. In December of last year alone, 52 books were added.
The banned publications span children's, scientific, historical, and literary fiction, as well as contemporary pop culture. The reasons for the bans are often absurd: from "danger to national interests" to "harm to moral values." In practice, this is censorship for the purpose of controlling thought, which makes the list frankly medieval and repressive. The banned list includes:
Historical and political science works: Essays on the History of Belarus (1795–2002) by Zakhar Shybeka, The Belarusian People's Republic 1918–1920 by Dorota Michaluk, Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe (1946–1956) by Anne Applebaum. These books are banned for offering interpretations of history that do not align with the official ideology, which clearly demonstrates a political motive.
Fiction and novels: Works by Belarusian authors such as Sasha Filipenko, as well as foreign authors — John Boyne, Patrick Ness, André Aciman, Vladimir Sorokin, and Viktor Pelevin. The ban affects not only political themes but also those of coming of age, love, psychology, and sexual identity, indicating censorship of ideas and worldviews.
Children's and young adult literature: Where Do Babies Come From, My Mum, Let's Talk About IT. The aim here is obvious: to control sex education and "traditional values," which constitutes direct interference in education.
"On average, we have around 40 books under review at any given time, identified in the course of monitoring. Identifications occur across the entire republic. Both specialists from regional commissions and members of the public are involved. And on average, we are compelled to ban around 30 books from distribution on the territory of the Republic of Belarus," said Deputy Minister of Information Denis Yezersky in a broadcast on STV.
This is a modern-day example of literature being banned under ideological, moral, and political pretexts. History knows such practices well: Islamist Iran, communist USSR, Nazi Germany — always under the guise of "morality" and "security," they attempted to destroy freedom of thought and literature. They literally burned books in public squares.
In our country, the content of books and access to them is controlled by the so-called Republican Commission for the Assessment of Symbols, Attributes, and Informational Products. The commission is dominated by ideologists and, for some reason, by representatives of the security services: the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Investigative Committee, the Military Academy, and the Border Service.
Books may be banned on the basis of the National Security Concept and Lukashenko's Directive No. 12 if, in the authorities' view, they contradict the interests of the country, violate moral, ethical, or religious norms, or contain "extremist materials."
Recent events have shown that the broad definition of "extremism" encompasses not only individual works but entire publishing houses. In February of this year, a wave of searches and detentions of book publishers and distributors took place. Among those detained were Vatslav Bogdanovich, founder of the Tekhnalohiya publishing house; Andrei Kim, a well-known translator and creator of the Kinakonha project; Dmitry Kolos, head of the eponymous publishing house; and book distributor Ales Yevdakha.
Immediately following these arrests, independent publishing houses began to be mass-designated as "extremist formations," including some that had previously been considered safe. Among them: Gutenberg Publisher, the literary and human rights organization Belarusian PEN, as well as the publishers Kamunikat.org Foundation, Lohvinau Publishing House, and Andrei Yanushkevich Publishing.
It is important to understand: this is not merely the persecution of specific individuals. This is a systemic attempt to destroy the independent literary and publishing space, to restrict access to knowledge and the translation of world literature into the Belarusian language, and to deprive society of critical thinking. In other words, today "we have no need for the clever" — as in the Strugatskys' Arkanar — and tomorrow the consequences may affect everyone.
Particularly alarming is the fact that banned books cannot only not be purchased, but also cannot be passed on, gifted, or even retained at home if one already possesses them. This means that any contact with the works of independent publishers now carries the threat of administrative or criminal liability. Even the mere possession of books from publishers designated as "extremist formations" may serve as grounds for prosecution.
What do we lose in this war against the bookmen? We lose our history, our cultural memory, the right to education, and the ability to think independently. Such actions not only violate fundamental human rights but also destroy the intellectual foundation of society. It is books, it is enlightenment, that give a people the capacity to analyse, to criticise, to build a future. Without this, we are condemned to "greyness," to manageability, to indifference.
The history of humanity has shown time and again: those who destroy books kill the future. The example of the Strugatskys' science fiction novel is not merely a literary allegory — it is a warning that remains relevant for Belarus today. We see how publishing houses are being destroyed, how writers and book distributors are being intimidated, how independent literary organisations are being shut down.
We are obliged not only to remember these events but to act: to preserve books, to support independent publishing houses, to assist writers and translators. Every book, every line, every text translated into the Belarusian language is an act of resistance, an act of preserving reason in a society that is being silenced.
The future of Belarus will depend on whether we are able to defend intellectual freedom, the right to literature and knowledge. The protagonist of the Strugatskys' novel tried to save a dying medieval society; today we must save our cultural heritage, our books, and our writers. Otherwise, tomorrow we will wake up in a world without books — a world where "we have no need for the clever."
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