Rare editions of books by Russian authors are disappearing from libraries across Europe

Paris: In April 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, two men arrived at the library of the University of Tartu, in Estonia’s second largest city.

They told the librarians that they were Ukrainians fleeing the war and asked to consult early 19th-century editions of works by Alexander Pushkin, Russia’s national poet, and Nikolai Gogol.

Speaking Russian, they said they were an uncle and nephew investigating censorship in Tsarist Russia so the nephew could apply for a scholarship to the United States. Eager to help, the librarians did so. The men spent 10 days studying the books.

Four months later, during a routine annual inventory, the library discovered that eight books the men had consulted had disappeared, replaced by facsimiles of such high quality that only trained eyes could detect them. “It was terrible,” said Krista Aru, library director. “They had a very good story.”