KIEV, Ukraine, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Ukrainian customs officials have released a blacklist of 38 Russian books that authorities will not allow to be imported to the Eastern European country.
The ban was announced Sunday under the rationale of keeping the Kremlin from spreading "hate ideology, fascism, xenophobia and separatism."
The blacklist was published by the Ukrainian State Television and Radio Committee, known as Goskomteleradio. It accused Russia of waging "information warfare" against Ukraine., BBC reported. The ban includes works by Eduard Limonov, Sergei Glazyev and Alexander Dugin.
Russian books banned in Ukraine include The Ukrainian Front: Red Stars over Maidan, Battlefield Ukraine -- The Broken Trident, Forward to the USSR, Kiev Kaputt and Superman Speaks Russian. Last week, Ukraine blacklisted French actor Gerard Depardieu for his support of Russia's annexation of Crimea and pro-Russian separatists.
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman reacted angrily Tuesday to the ban, saying it comes without observing required judicial mechanisms. "This was apparently done without any kind of judicial process," Maria Zakharova wrote on her Facebook wall, PressTV reported.
Russian radio journalist Sergei Dorenko, one of whose books also made the list, added that "in the age of the Internet, it's simply funny for the Ukrainians to try and ban something."
Russia also has a blacklist of banned books and other publications known as the Federal List of Extremist Materials. There are more than 1,000 banned titles on the list. These include texts by jihadist groups and Jehovah Witnesses.
Russian nationalists also denounced two Russian rock stars, Boris Grebenshchikov and Andrei Makarevich, for their allegedly pro-Ukrainian stance.
