Agence France-Presse reports that the attack may be evidence of growing hostility toward LGBT people across Russia. Natalia Kunitskaya, a spokeswoman for the Volgograd region branch of the Investigative Committee, said the attack was likely a hate crime.

The 23-year old victim was "raped with beer bottles and had his skull smashed with a stone," Kunitskaya said.

Two men, ages 22 and 27, have been detained in connection to the attack. An investigator told Echo of Moscow that the two men began beating the victim after they were drinking and he revealed to them that he was gay.