Going to Zossen: Or the Capitulation of Vasily Mikhailovich

by A.V. Pankov

“Gripping” – Kirkus Reviews

Based on true accounts of children’s penal colonies that emerged during the 1990s post-Soviet chaos, Going to Zossen is a raw exploration of the bargains ordinary people make under oppressive systems – necessary reading for fans of Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These and Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys.

The year is 1993. In a collapsing post-Soviet mining town, a former serviceman, Vasily Mikhailovich, accepts work as the director of a remote juvenile prison colony. Determined to bring order and empathy to a brutal system, he starts a rehabilitation programme for the young boys. But he is soon thwarted by the corruption around him; as he watches the people nearby prosper through deceit and cruelty, he is forced to make a to uphold his principles and risk everything, or surrender them to save his family.

Going to Zossen achieves almost surgical precision in its depiction of the brutal wave of mass child homelessness that swept through Russia after the fall of the USSR – a collapse that produced up to four million “street children”, the quickest deterioration of living standards to happen in any country during peacetime.

PRAISE

“A timely revelation” – BookLife
“Will embrace even readers who held little prior familiarity with and interest in Soviet affairs” – Midwest Book Reviews

*This edition uses British English spelling and usage (e.g., "colour" and "realise")

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

217 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 3, 2026

About the author

A.V. Pankov was born in Omsk, Russia. Experiences of growing up in post-Soviet Russia before emigrating to Europe, at the age of nine, have provided inspiration for his work. He has reported for a number of news titles such as The Irish Times and The Sun, and his literary work has appeared in Mulberry Literary, The Taborian and Blue Earth Review, among others. He currently lives in Dublin.

Reviews

[Cristín Blennerhassett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written exploration of corrupted youth and persevering humanity in the face of adversity in post-Soviet Russia. This is my favourite kind of book - a perfect meld of well researched historical fiction and gripping, heart felt literary fiction. I was lucky to get an ARC ahead of publication and I couldn’t put this one down!

[Aoife Cassidy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The year is 1993 in this novel, but the unrelenting bleakness of the setting is more reminiscent of the early 20th century or even late 19th Century, and so it’s only when there are jarring modern references (for example, to Bill Clinton) that the reader is reminded this is set in a modern, post-Soviet era.

I was drawn to requesting this novel on NetGalley primarily because I’ve read few books set in this time in Russia, in the immediate collapse of the Soviet Union, and having read its promising Kirkus review.

Our protagonist Vasily is given a choice by his superiors between unemployment or moving thousands of miles across country to run a juvenile penitentiary, and so he chooses the latter. While there he becomes increasingly concerned for the wellbeing of the young boys in his care, in particular one young boy, who is referred to as Kinder by his peers for his German heritage.

With diminishing resources (actually zero resources), and a staff whose salaries are not forthcoming from a broke and chaotic State, Vasily resorts to desperate means in his private life to stay afloat.

Pankov (who interestingly grew up in Ireland to Russian parents and is a freelance writer) has created a dark and atmospheric novel that spotlights a relatively unknown and unwritten about period in Soviet history (at least to this reader of fiction).

There’s an undertone of menace and desperation to the story, and there’s a strange structure to it with alternating chapters written from the perspective of one of Kinder’s peers, that made it a little foggy and obtuse at times, but it’s well executed overall and quite cinematic with its quietly dramatic ending. 3/5 ⭐️

*Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Going to Zossen is published this month (February 2026).

[Nicholas O'Neill · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly well-written debut novel. I felt like I was transported into an authentic post soviet Russia through Vasily.

There are many elements of the book I loved, but sitting here in the immediate aftermath of concluding the final page, the pacing of the book stands out to me most. It hit that sweet spot where character development was layered enough to bring depth but the plot moved with an intensity that makes this novel a page turner.

I always say that bringing a book to a close (or movie, tv series) is one of the most difficult things to do. It is more often than not that I am left at the end of a book feeling a sense that it whimpered out or didn’t do the rest of the narrative justice. Going to Zossen is one of the rare books that doesn’t fall into this trap, which is an impressive feat. I think that the final chapters were some of the strongest, and drew the story to a conclusion excellently with a subtly impactful finish. I really enjoyed the final act.

I’d like to end this brief review by noting a couple of my favourite lines from Pankov (selected carefully to not spoil any plot points):

“Someone told me before that evil travels around among the very unsuspecting people, looking for a vessel to inhabit. Kind of like a pathogen. I believe it”.

“The programme was prefaced with an economic ‘picture’ of the country. None of it presented any surprises to Vasily. Heavy industry and child benefits in the doldrums; pensions the only public payment that did not hit rock bottom — kept up out of that dogged loyalty to the old”.

“Certainty as a concept had lent itself to great scrutiny these past few months”.

“Let me tell you something about margarine — vodka is the only margarine you need”.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is such an underdog! a debut novel from a new author is always the start of an exciting journey.
This book really hits you with a lot of questions and reflections of a harsh reality from a lot of perspectives within the different characters.

It read almost like a continued stream of consciousness which I found so interesting.

It was gritty, honest and brutal at times - naturally, given the setting. Looking forward to the next book! 📕

[Laura Lambe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this book down - a beautifully written work of historical fiction with strong characters and a fascinating look at life in post-Soviet Russia.

[Joanne Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

The director of a child prison colony, a German child, and an angry teenager are the three main subjects in this historical fiction based on real accounts of early 90s Russia.

A true tale of the ' soul of man under socialism'. Bleak. Dark. Messy.

Over all, interesting because this was a point in history I had no knowledge of, and my heart breaks for the children society has thrown to the scrap yards.

Three stars because the story over all was understandable and you can really feel the despair and sadness of a hell hole like this- but the whole set up of the story line and mixing back and forth of characters and lack of breaks between characters talking was a bit frustrating and took me out of the mood being set so I could decipher who was saying what.

I also felt the three points were disjointed, and I really didn't get to feel for any of the characters- over all very fractured.

I feel this was a good starting point for me, and I will look into more literature of the 90s Russian history.

[Daniela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading „ Going to Zossen“ by A.V. Pankov feels more like looking into the head of a drunk yard or being in a weird fever dream. The way Pankov writes it both, intriguing, but also stressful.
A.V. Zossen presents aus with Vasilis development from an honest, good wanting director of a correction camp for youth to becoming a corrupt man trying everything to keep an I’ll fates facility and his life up and running - following challenging circumstances. In this rough correction facility for youth, Vasilia and his colleague try everything to give the youth a good basis for their life after they served their time. Yet, due to government not paying the salaries, his guards direct their frustration towards the young inmates who already have to cope and live with a rough environment.
Although it was kind of interesting, I also struggled with reading as the style feels more like a fever dream or a brain during alcohol consumption than a valid streak of story.

[Rachel Shaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

My full review:

https://www.creationmag.org/blog-3-1/...

[Tay Gibs · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4/5

Desperation mixed with unrealistic optimism.

[Natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come.