Moscow police have raided two gay clubs in the Russian capital overnight, detaining over 50 people, Telegram channels MSK1 and SHOT reported on Saturday.
According to MSK1, one of the raids was carried out at the Central Station club in downtown Moscow, with the purported aim “to fight drug trafficking”. Videos from the club show police officers forcing people to lie on the ground with their hands behind their head, stand with their hands against the wall, and violently frisking them.
Central Station was holding an event marking National Coming Out Day, an annual date observed worldwide on 11 October in support of the queer community, when the police arrived at about 1am, SHOT reported. About 200 people were in the venue at the time of the raid.
Over 50 people were detained by the police during the raid, SHOT reported, adding that police also raided Three Monkeys, another central Moscow queer venue overnight. It is unknown where those detained were taken.
According to SHOT, the venues were raided following “civilian complaints”, with Moscow residents allegedly reporting Three Monkeys to the police earlier this week for “all sorts of naughty things”. “Half-naked men dressed as women dance around the stage, and the guy guests kiss each other freely,” local residents told SHOT.
Another pro-Russian channel Mash reported that Three Monkeys and Central Station could be shut down for “discrediting the Russian army”, as drag queens allegedly mocked Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine during a show at Central Station.
Central Station and Three Monkeys, managed by the same owners, are two of the most popular queer venues in Moscow. After Russia introduced its first anti-LGBT laws in 2014, Central Station briefly closed after a series of violent attacks, including a shooting and several gas attacks.
As the Kremlin escalated its crackdown on the queer community in late 2023, declaring the “international LGBT movement” an extremist organisation, Central Station’s St. Petersburg venue was forced to close.