Russia's state-backed TV adaptation of Strugatsky novel strips political themes

Wink, a Russian streaming platform, is releasing a new adaptation of the Strugatsky brothers' 'Hard to Be a God' that removes the novel's political critique of dictatorship and utopian themes. The series focuses on adventure and characters, omitting the original's ideological content, reflecting state-aligned cultural production in Russia. This is a notable cultural-political development, indicating continued state influence over media narratives.