MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has reshaped society, moving the conflict's impact from television screens into daily life. Over four years, the popularity of George Orwell's novel 1984 has surged in Russia, reflecting public sentiment about government control.
By late 2022, a St. Petersburg bookstore displayed copies of 1984 as a garland above its cash register. Another store created a patriotic book display featuring a mug depicting Orwell's face with the caption: "Let Big Brother think that there is tea in this mug."
In Moscow, the bookshop Respublika stocked Orwell's works throughout its store as a quiet protest against Kremlin directives rejecting cultural products from "unfriendly countries"—France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Respublika also sold Ed Sheeran albums, Rolling Stones vinyl records and works by Russian writers who had fled, including Boris Akunin and Dmitry Bykov.
Authorities accused Akunin and Bykov of "extremism" and added their works to an official list of 5,000 banned titles. Respublika removed those books from its shelves and relocated Orwell's still-legal works to the second floor in anticipation of government inspections.
State restrictions have expanded significantly since the invasion began. Measures include book bans, reduced social media access, crackdowns on public protest, actions targeting the LGBTQ community and attacks on feminism.
Russia's "foreign agent" law, initially established in 2012 to identify individuals and organizations receiving international funding, has become a tool for criminal prosecution. The official foreign agent list contained 300 individuals and organizations in early 2022. By 2025, that number had grown to over 1,100.
Despite escalating restrictions, Russians have continued to read. A bookstore chain reported that 1984 was its most stolen book throughout 2023. In the first half of 2025, theft of 1984 copies was surpassed only by copies of the Russian constitution, which explicitly forbids censorship and guarantees freedom of thought, speech and access to information.
Russians have joked about the situation, saying, "We read Orwell for his reflection of reality, and the constitution as a beautiful utopia." The remark highlights awareness of the gap between constitutional protections and present-day realities.
The Kremlin has intensified propaganda efforts, demanding devotion to the war. Patriotic slogans glorifying Russian and Soviet heroism fill television screens, billboards, online advertisements and government statements.
On March 14, human rights organization OVD-Info released a pre-recorded video featuring Marina Ovsyannikova, who had previously protested on Russian state television. During the peak-time news program Vremya, Ovsyannikova appeared with a homemade placard denouncing the war and accusing the station of broadcasting lies. Her protest, visible for only seconds, resonated inside Russia and internationally.
