The owner, administrator and art director of an Orenburg bar received sentences in Russia's first case of “LGBT extremism”

On June 29, the Central District Court of Orenburg sentenced the owner of the Pose bar Vyacheslav Khasanov, administrator Diana Kamilyanova and art director Alexander Klimov to terms ranging from two years and three months to seven years in prison.

Khasanov and Kamilyanova were accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), Klimov - of participating in such an organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). None of them admitted guilt. Khasanov was also charged 1 million rubles as criminal proceeds from the activities of an extremist organization.

The defendants in the case were arrested in March 2024 after a raid carried out in Pose by security forces and members of the nationalist “Russian Community”. The bar's management was accused of holding “events united by the common theme of demonstrating belonging to persons of non-traditional sexual orientation” (drag show).

The case against the management of Pose was the first brought in Russia under the article on “LGBT extremism”. But the first sentence in such a case was handed down to a Kuzbass prisoner in January 2025; similar sentences were received by a resident of Karachay-Cherkessia and the head of the Samara LGBT organization “Irida” Artem Fokin .