The Russian Academic Youth Theater in Moscow (RAMT) has canceled plays by prominent writer Grigory Chkhartishvili, known under the pen name Boris Akunin, amid a crackdown on institutions linked to the writer, who is known for publicly expressing his opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted a RAMT spokesperson on December 27 as saying that Akunin's popular plays East Fandorin; Yin and Yang, White Version; and Yin and Yang, Black Version had been replaced by plays written by other authors.
Other recent actions have been carried out to further erase Akunin, who left Russia in 2014 and currently resides in London, from Russian culture or punish him for his stance.
Last week, police in the Russian capital searched the Zakharov publishing house, which has published a series of Akunin's books since the 1990s.
Also last week, the Interfax news agency quoted a source as saying a probe into a charge of discrediting the Russian armed forces was launched against Akunin, who was also added to the government’s list of terrorists and extremists.
Earlier this month, one of Russia's largest book publishers, AST, and the country's biggest bookstore chain, Chitai-Gorod-Bukvoyed, announced that they had dropped Akunin and Dmitry Bykov, another popular writer, over their pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian comments.
The Novy Mir (New World) literary magazine removed two of Akunin's plays from its website this month.
In October, all Russian theaters staging plays based on Akunin's works removed his name from posters. Also, the Moscow House of Books was forced to remove Akunin's books from visible places at its exhibits.
Akunin was among dozens of Russian writers who openly condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine. On February 24 2022, immediately after Russia launched the invasion, he wrote on Facebook that "a new horrible epoch started" in Russia.
"To the last moment I could not believe that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would launch this absurd war and I was wrong. I have always believed that in the end, common sense will win, and I was wrong. Madness won," Akunin wrote.