German publisher halts Ukraine wartime romance novel after backlash

A German publishing house has halted the publication of a fictional love story between a Ukrainian woman and a Russian soldier after criticism that the novel romanticizes the war, its head Matthias Slunitschek told dpa.

Slunitschek said on Friday that the publisher had decided, at the author's request and after a flood of critical comments, not to publish the novel "Who I Am When You See Me."

In a message to the Molino publishing house, based in Germany's south-western state of Baden-Württemberg, one person questioned how sensitively the publisher handled Ukrainian experiences and what approach it took to depicting the war, given how the story was being marketed.

Portraying a Russian soldier as a rescuer and romantic partner of a Ukrainian civilian in occupied Kherson risks romanticizing the reality of military occupation, violence and suffering faced by Ukraine's civilian population, the message said.

"The author's idea was that two people meet and that the human encounter rises above the external circumstances," Slunitschek said. "It is actually a novel that promotes humanity and peace and is against the war."

The book's blurb 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."

Juna Liebrecht, the author of the book, told dpa she wanted to apologize if people felt attacked or hurt. She said she had not wanted to offend anyone or romanticize the war.

The book had been scheduled for release on November 1.