The result was that exclusion from the Union meant a virtual ban on publication. In spite of this, the history of the Union of Writers also saw cases of voluntary self-exclusion from its cadre. Thus Vasily Aksenov, Simeon Lipkin and Inna Lisnyanskaya left the Union of Writers in a show of solidarity following the exclusion of Victor Yerofeev and Yevgeny Popov in punishment for self-publishing.