Moscow: Russian authorities have burned more than 50 books and removed more than 500 other volumes from university libraries on the grounds they contain sentiments "alien to Russian ideology".

The books, most of them textbooks, were published with money from the Soros Fund, which in November was declared an "undesirable agent" and forced to stop its work in Russia.

The books were removed from libraries in two universities in the north-western Komi region and some were later burned.

The Komi education minister said in a letter dated Wednesday that the books were destroyed to fulfil an order from a presidential envoy requesting that books published with funds from the Soros Fund be removed from circulation.