Copyright nytimes
“We live in a special city,” said Lyubov Belyatskaya, founder of Everyone Is Free, one of the first independent bookstores in the city. “And we worked very hard to develop that culture.” Ms. Belyatskaya introduced and promoted the idea of a “literary quarter” of St. Petersburg. She has compiled a map of more than 180 independent Russian-language bookstores around the country and beyond. Two days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she and two colleagues cut out and glued “Peace to the World” — an old Soviet slogan — to a store window. For about a year it hung there, offering rare solace to the antiwar crowd. She said that some passers-by thanked her for the gesture. But it also enraged pro-war nationalists. Someone shot through the window. The police encouraged Ms. Belyatskaya to remove the slogan.
