More than 50 people in Moscow were detained on Saturday as heavily armed and masked police raided two bars that catered to LGBTQ+ clientele, Novaya Gazeta Europe and pro-Putin Telegram channels MSK1 and SHOT reported. Additional raids were also reported in the central Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
The Central Station nightclub in Moscow was raided around 1 a.m. on Saturday by police wearing masks and wielding machine guns. Video of the raid showed police forcing patrons and employees at gunpoint to lie on the floor and then searching their personal belongings. At least 50 individuals were subsequently taken to a local police station for further questioning.
Authorities said the raid was conducted as part of its war on drug trafficking, MSK1 reported.
MSK1.RU | Новости Москвы | Россияt.me
Also, in Moscow, police raided the Three Monkeys Bar. Authorities had earlier received complaints that “half-naked men dressed as women jump around the stage, and male visitors freely kiss each other,” SHOT reported on Oct. 6.
“People are outraged that, despite the law banning LGBT propaganda, transvestites openly joke about airborne troops from the stage and discuss the SVO [Special Military Operation in Ukraine],” the nationalistic channel reported.
SHOTt.me
Two gay bars were also raided in Yekaterinburg in central Russia. The Duty Free club was raided around 3 a.m., according to witnesses who spoke with E1.RU.
“They were in camouflage, without identification marks. Later, the police showed up,” an unidentified witness told E1.RU. “The girls were released without problems, they began to gather the men and demand that they provide documents. At about 4 a.m. they began to let them out. During this time, a crowd had gathered at the exit, it was stuffy, one girl felt sick and fainted. They barely forced the people in masks to take her out into the fresh air.”
Video of the event showed police dressed in black and wearing masks.
E1.RU | Новости Екатеринбургаt.me
In 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill expanding a ban on so-called LGBTQ "propaganda" in Russia, which outlawed the promotion of marriage equality or suggested that non-heterosexual orientations are “normal.”
The new laws significantly broadened the scope of a 2013 law that banned the dissemination of LGBTQ-related information to minors. The new signed by Putin extends that ban to adults.
In 2023, the Russian Supreme Court granted a petition to label the “international LGBT social movement” as “extremist,” and ban its activities, advocacy, and support within the country. The following months, the government conducted a series of raids targeting LGBTQ+ bars and nightclubs.
