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German Publisher Molino Verlag Cancels Novel About a Russian Soldier and a Ukrainian Civilian

Juna Liebrecht's Wer ich bin, wenn du mich siehst was due out November 1. The publisher says it dropped the book at her request after a wave of criticism.

The Publishing Times Staff · October 19, 2026 · 4 min read

German Publisher Molino Verlag Cancels Novel About a Russian Soldier and a Ukrainian Civilian

What happened? Molino Verlag, a small German publisher based in Sindelfingen in Baden-Württemberg, has cancelled a novel about a relationship between a Ukrainian civilian and a Russian soldier. The book, Juna Liebrecht's Wer ich bin, wenn du mich siehst (Who I Am When You See Me), was due out on November 1. The publisher's head, Matthias Slunitschek, told the German news agency dpa on Friday, October 16, that the house had decided not to publish it "at the author's request and after a flood of critical comments," according to dpa's English-language report.

The main complaint, Slunitschek said, was that the book romanticizes the war in Ukraine.

What the novel is about

The book is set in Kherson, the southern Ukrainian city that Russian forces occupied in 2022. The publisher's description, quoted by dpa, reads: "As Russian troops occupy the city, Ukrainian civilian Lyusiya loses almost everything that has defined her life so far. After an explosion, a masked Russian soldier rescues her. They soon develop a secret and intense relationship. The closer Lyusiya gets to the man behind the mask, the clearer it becomes that love can neither dissolve violence nor guilt."

The German version of the dpa story, carried by Der Spiegel, adds that Liebrecht was to present the book at the Bücherfestival in Baden-Baden on November 7. She had also received a grant for the project from the Förderkreis der Schriftstellerinnen und Schriftsteller in Baden-Württemberg, a regional writers' association.

On Monday, the book's page in Molino's online shop no longer loaded.

What critics said

Every one of the house's channels was being swamped with messages, Slunitschek told dpa. The agency quoted from one. Its author asked how carefully Molino was treating Ukrainian experience, and how it meant to show the war, given the way the book was being sold.

Casting a Russian soldier as the rescuer and lover of a Ukrainian civilian in occupied Kherson, the message said, risks romanticizing what occupation means for the people who live under it: the violence, and the suffering of Ukraine's civilians.

What the publisher and author said

Slunitschek stood by what the book was trying to do. "The author's idea was that two people meet and that the human encounter rises above the external circumstances," he told dpa. "It is actually a novel that promotes humanity and peace and is against the war."

He also told dpa, in the German version, that the online reaction struck him as organized. He did not say by whom.

Liebrecht told dpa she wanted to apologize if anyone felt attacked or hurt, and that she had not meant to offend anyone. "I did not want to romanticize the war. That was never my intention," she said, in the German report. She added that she is not from Ukraine herself and had not set out to portray the war itself in the novel.

Threats cited

The publisher has since given a further reason. Börsenblatt, the German book trade's weekly, reported on Monday, October 19, that Molino says it dropped the book to protect the author and its staff after receiving massive attacks and threats. The Südwest Presse, a regional paper, also reported that Molino spoke of threats against the author and the house. Neither report, in the parts available without a subscription, describes the threats in detail. Börsenblatt repeated that the decision was made at the author's request.

The story was also carried by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Süddeutsche Zeitung, both using the dpa report.

Why it matters to the trade

The case touches on questions publishers in many countries have faced. One is who gets to write fiction set in an ongoing war, and how it should be marketed. Another is how much weight a publisher should give to a wave of online criticism, and what it owes an author and its staff when that criticism turns into threats.

In this case the publisher and the author have both said the book was not meant to romanticize the war, while critics have said that the premise does so regardless of intent. Molino has not said whether the novel could appear later, with another publisher or in another form. Liebrecht has not announced any plans for the book.

Sources