The Russian Federation's Children's Rights Commissioner, Attorney Pavel Astakhov, has accepted a request by "Orel PTA" to prohibit the publication and printing of acclaimed Israeli author David Grossman's book "Someone to Run With."
Astakhov 'explained' his decision with the bizarre claim that "distribution of this sort of literature with no age restriction increases the rates of teenage pregnancy, single motherhood, and sexually transmitted diseases."
In addition, the commissioner's directive was circulated across all public libraries and bookstores, where the books are now no longer available for sale.
Several months ago, it was reported that in the Russian version of another acclaimed Israeli author Yuval Noah Harari's book, "21 Thoughts on the 21st Century", changes were made to the text. Specifically, the wording of criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin was changed and a reference to the occupation of Crimea was softened.
Translated by Idan Zonshine.