The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine imposes sanctions against five Russian publishing houses

President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed Decree No. 835/2025, enacting a decision from the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) “on the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions).”

According to the NSDC’s decision, sanctions will be imposed on five Russian publishing houses: “Knizhny Mir,” “Veche,” “Tsentrpoligraf,” “Yauza,” and the publishing group “Piter.”

According to Ukraine’s Security Service, these publishers are involved in justifying Russia’s aggression, spreading Russian propaganda worldwide, and promoting anti-Ukrainian narratives, including in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.

The sanctions include asset freezes, bans on trade operations, suspension of financial obligations, restrictions on the transit of resources, and a complete ban on distributing the media and content produced by these publishers in Ukraine.

Additionally, internet access to the domains veche.ru, piter.com, yauza.info, kmbook.ru, litres.ru, labirint.ru, and other platforms distributing Russian literature has been blocked.

Control over the implementation of this decision was assigned to NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov.

The sanctions will be enforced by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Bank, and the Commission on State Awards and Heraldry.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is tasked with informing the governments of the European Union, the United States, and other countries about the new restrictions and initiating similar sanctions at the international level.

The sanctions were introduced under Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions.” They are indefinite, with certain provisions applied for a period of ten years.

As previously reported, in May 2024, the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting initiated sanctions against 22 Russian publishers. However, in response to a request from “Chytomo,” it did not specify which publishers were affected.

In 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted an NSDC decision imposing personal sanctions on the leadership of major Russian museums that pursue anti-Ukrainian policies.

According to information obtained by “Chytomo” from the NSDC, sanctions against the publishing houses “Eksmo,” “AST,” “Piter,” “Knizhny Mir,” “Algorithm,” “Tsentrpoligraf,” “Aleteya,” “Donbass,” “Arguments of the Week,” “Veche,” “Simex,” and “Sanline” were in effect from March 19, 2019, until March 2022.

The Ukrainian Book Institute, in May 2024 and July 2025, proposed that the NSDC impose sanctions against the following legal entities: the “Litres” brand (part of the “Eksmo-AST” publishing group), “Piter” Publishing House, LLC “Eksmo Publishing,” LLC “AST Publishing,” and LLC “Piter Publishing Group.”

RELATED: Ukraine refuses ISSNs for publishers and printing houses in occupied territories

Main image: fewskills.com

Copy editing: Terra Friedman King