October 3, 2025
Freedom Letters Receives 2025 AAP International Freedom to Publish Award
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today awarded Freedom Letters, a Russian and Ukrainian language publisher, the 2025 AAP International Freedom to Publish Award. The award recognizes a publisher outside of the United States who has demonstrated courage and fortitude in defending freedom of expression.
Georgy Urushadze, the founder and publisher of Freedom Letters, is a political journalist and co-founder of the publishing house Palmira in Moscow. Mr. Urushadze also served as head of Russia’s three main literary prizes, including the nation’s premier award, Big Book, but in 2022 resigned these positions in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was consequently designated a “foreign agent” by the Russian government. He fled the country and founded Freedom Letters to continue publishing. Several Freedom Letters authors are facing criminal charges or are currently imprisoned in Russia.
“Georgy Urushadze has made extraordinary sacrifices in the name of free expression, demonstrated remarkable tenacity in building a thriving publishing house while in exile, and inspired people around the world with his fierce dedication to publishing authors that others have tried to silence,” commented Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO, Association of American Publishers. “On behalf of the Board, membership, and staff of AAP, I thank everyone associated with Freedom Letters for their critically important contributions and send our most sincere congratulations on this well-deserved award.”
“I am deeply honored to accept this award on behalf of our team of volunteers and authors,” commented Georgy Urushadze, the founder of Freedom Letters. “It is no exaggeration to say that today’s award sends a message of hope to all those who believe, as we do, that every book that reaches a reader is proof that stories can survive borders, bans, and fear. Our thoughts are, as always, with the many authors who are currently detained or working in dangerous circumstances, and we thank AAP and its Board for providing us with crucially important encouragement and inspiration that will help us continue our work.”
About Freedom Letters
Operating largely in exile, Freedom Letters is an independent, volunteer-based publishing house that focuses on Ukrainian and Russian language works of literature and anti-war prose, including books banned by the Russian government, books in support of persecuted groups, and works authored by those under threat from the government. Freedom Letters currently operates in various locations including the U.K, Latvia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and, with appropriate cautions, Russia.
Several Freedom Letters authors are currently facing criminal charges or are imprisoned in Russia. The publishing house itself is banned in Russia, its website is blocked by Russian authorities, and its books are prohibited by the Prosecutor General. Nevertheless, all titles remain accessible to readers in Russia.
In the past two and a half years Freedom Letters has published 236 books by 300 authors, with a team of 40 volunteers supporting the publishing house.
Sample Titles
Last But Not Final Words
The closing courtroom statements from Russian political prisoners compiled by Freedom Letters. This title, which has been banned in Russia, is dedicated to Alexei Navalny, whose speeches form the largest section.
VZ by Dmitry Bykov
A novel about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that has been banned in Russia. The author, one of Russia’s most respected contemporary writers, is now a permanent U.S. resident but the Russian Government has branded him a “foreign agent” and has arrested him in absentia.
The War Diary by Olga Grebennik
A graphic novel of the first days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Other Titles
Skazka (A Fairy Tale),by Vladimir Sorokin that comprises a post-apocalyptic reflection on the fate of Russia, and The Legacy, an earlier Sorokin novel that is set in the aftermath of a nuclear war, and that resulted in blocking of the Freedom Letters website, and earned the house a formal listing as a distributor of “harmful” information by the Russian government; My Prison Trip, the autobiography of artist Sasha Skochilenko, who was jailed for protesting the war; a collection of dramatic works entitled Tuaregs by Svetlana Petriichuk, who is currently serving a six-year sentence for writing one of these plays; and Notes from the Dark by political prisoner Ilya Shakursky.
About the AAP International Freedom to Publish Award
The International Freedom to Publish Award, which was established in 2002, recognizes a publisher outside the United States who has demonstrated courage and fortitude in defending freedom of expression. The award, which includes a cash prize, was created in honor of Jeri Laber, a co-founder of Human Rights Watch and founding member of AAP’s Freedom to Publish Committee. At times, honorees may be unable to accept the award, or communicate in person, due to fear of reprisal.
Previous recipients of the award include Januškevič Publishing House, a Belarusian publisher that now operates from Poland, in 2024, Venezuela-based Editorial Dahbar in 2022, Guatemala-based F&G Editores in 2021, Bangladesh-based Jagriti Publishing House in 2020; South Africa-based NB Publishers in 2019; and in 2018 Azadeh Parsapour, a London-based publisher of censored Iranian authors. In 2023, AAP awarded it to publishing houses from around the world that face a rising tide of government pressure, harassment, and threats.
About AAP
AAP | The Association of American Publishers represents the leading book, journal, and education publishers in the United States on matters of law and policy, advocating for outcomes that incentivize and protect works of authorship and the creative, intellectual, and financial investments that make them possible. As essential participants in local markets and the global economy, our members invest in and inspire the exchange of ideas, transforming the world we live in one word at a time. Find us online at www.publishers.org or on Twitter and Instagram at @AmericanPublish.