Nicolai Lilin

Nikolai Yurievich Verzhbitsky, known as Nicolai Lilin, is an Italian-Moldovan writer and tattoo artist from Transnistria. His first novel, Siberian Education, was published in 2009 and was adapted into a 2013 film starring John Malkovich. The novel, which Lilin claimed was based on his experiences living among Siberian criminal gangs in his native Bender, became a bestseller in Italy, but garnered criticism over its factual inaccuracies. Similar criticisms would be leveled at its sequel, Free Fall, which narrates the author's alledged experiences during the Second Chechen war.