One of Russia's largest book publishers and the country's biggest bookstore chain said on December 15 they were dropping two prominent Russian writers over pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian comments. Both authors made the comments in phone calls with video bloggers and comedians who have made careers of embarrassing Kremlin foes. Author Dmitry Bykov said although he regretted the killing of Russians in the Ukrainian conflict, he couldn't blame the Ukrainian leadership. Grigory Chkhartishvili, known under the pen name Boris Akunin, described Russia as a threat to the world and said he had no qualms about Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian cities.
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