German publisher withdraws Russian-Ukrainian love story

Symbolic image: Russian soldier on patrol (2022)

After heavy criticism, a book publisher in Baden-Württemberg has stopped the publication of a fictional love story between a Ukrainian woman and a Russian soldier. At the request of the author, as a result of critical comments on social media, it has been decided not to publish the novel “Who I am when you see me”, said the head of Molino Verlag, Matthias Slunitschek, the German Press Agency.

All channels of the publisher from Sindelfingen are currently filled with news. The accusation is that the book romanticizes the war in Ukraine, Slunitschek said.

In a message to the publisher, one person, among others, expressed doubts about the publisher’s sensitivity to Ukrainian experiences and his approach to portraying the war. To portray a Russian soldier as the savior and romantic partner of a Ukrainian civilian in occupied Cherson runs the risk of romanticizing the reality of military occupation, violence and suffering of Ukrainian civilians.

“The idea of the author was that two people meet and this human encounter wins over the external constellation,” said publisher Slunitschek. “It is actually a novel that promotes humanity and peace and is against war.” He had the impression that the reaction on the net was an organized action.

As Russian troops occupy the city, Ukrainian civilian Lyusiya loses almost everything that has made her life so far. After an explosion, she is rescued by a masked Russian soldier. When they meet a little later, a secret, intense relationship develops between them. The closer Lyusiya comes to the man behind the mask, the clearer it becomes that love cannot resolve violence or guilt. Their closeness becomes a test between fear, compassion and moral responsibility.

The author of the book, Juna Liebrecht, told the German Press Agency that she wanted to apologize if someone felt attacked or hurt. She didn’t want to be too close to anyone with her novel. I didn’t want to romanticize the war. That was never my intention. She herself did not come from Ukraine and did not have the claim to depict the war with her novel.

According to the publisher, the novel was to be released on November 1 and presented at the Baden-Baden Book Festival on November 7. The author also received a scholarship from the Förderkreis der Autoren in Baden-Württemberg.