A Russian court has jailed the owner and two employees of an LGBT nightclub in Orenburg after convicting them of organising and participating in the activities of an “extremist organisation”.
Authorities say it is the first prosecution under Russia’s ban on the so-called “LGBT movement”, following the country’s 2023 Supreme Court ruling that designated the “international LGBT movement” as extremist.
Vyacheslav Khasanov, 37, the owner of the Pose club, was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 1 million roubles.
Two other staff members were also convicted. Club manager Diana Kamilyanova, 30, was sentenced to six years and three months, while art director Alexander Klimov, 23, was handed a sentence of two years and three months. All three defendants denied guilt.
Raid on the Pose club
The arrests followed a police raid on the Pose club in the southwestern Russian city of Orenburg.
The venue had operated since 2021 and was known for hosting drag parties. As restrictions mounted, it reportedly later marketed itself as a “parody bar theatre”.
In March 2024, Orenburg regional authorities and Russia’s National Guard raided the club. Footage shared online by a far-right group showed patrons standing with their hands raised as masked officers moved through the venue’s neon-lit rooms. Other people were seen lying on the floor with their hands crossed above their heads.
The court said the defendants had, “under the guise of running a nightclub”, organised events centred on “the common theme of demonstrating affiliation with people of non-traditional sexual orientation for an unspecific group of the venue’s patrons”.
Russia’s wider anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown
Russia’s Supreme Court designated the so-called “international LGBT movement” as extremist in 2023, despite critics noting that no such formal organisation exists.
The ruling has enabled authorities to pursue serious criminal cases against LGBTQ+ people, venues, activists and advocates, with lawyers warning the Orenburg case could set a dangerous precedent for future prosecutions.
During the same broader crackdown, staff members of a Russian book publisher were questioned by authorities in April over possible “LGBT propaganda” in its catalogue.
LGBT rights lawyers have warned that the Orenburg convictions could help destroy remaining “safe havens” for queer people in Russia, where public LGBTQ+ life has already been pushed further underground.
For Russia’s LGBTQ+ community, the Pose case marks a chilling escalation: a nightclub, drag performances and queer community space treated by the state as evidence of extremism.
