In Orenburg, a city in the southern Urals, the court has received Russia’s first criminal case concerning the so-called “international LGBT movement.”

The Investigative Committee has submitted to court the case of staff members of the Pose club in Orenburg, a city in the southern Urals, who are accused of involvement in the non-existent “international LGBT public movement,” according to a report on the regional Investigative Committee’s website.

The 36-year-old owner of the club, Vyacheslav Khasanov, and the 29-year-old administrator, Diana Kamilyanova, are charged with organising the activities of an extremist organisation (Part 1, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), while the 22-year-old art director, Aleksandr Klimov, is charged with participation in its activities (Part 2, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).

“In 2024, in a rented non-residential premises located on Shevchenko Street in Orenburg, which had been converted into an entertainment venue (a bar), a group of individuals acting in concert and assigned specific roles [the accused] held public events aimed at spreading and promoting non-traditional sexual relations and preferences,” the Investigative Committee claims.

According to investigators, one of the accused “personally took an active part in these events, which were attended by minors among the visitors.”

The Investigative Committee announced the case had been sent to court on 9 July. On the same day, the Central District Court of Orenburg registered the materials.

Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the “Safe Internet League,” reported that this is the first criminal case in Russia linked to the Supreme Court’s decision to ban the “international LGBT public movement.” The case was opened in March 2024. Soon after, the administrator and art director of the club were remanded in a pre-trial detention centre. A few days later, the owner of Pose was also placed in custody.

The outlet Ufa1.ru reports that the pre-trial restrictions for all three were subsequently relaxed.

Before the criminal case was opened, the club underwent a raid by security forces with the participation of the nationalist group “Russian Community.” After the raid, videos were circulated online showing visitors being humiliated and asked what they were doing in the “faggot club.”