December 02, 2024

Stop the Parties!


Stop the Parties!
Partygoers in Arma nightclub holding their hands behind their necks during the raids. Shot, Telegram

On November 30, while Muscovites were celebrating the end of the week, police forces and OMON raided three Moscow nightclubs as part of a "fight against LGBT propaganda." Dozens of people were detained and taken away in trucks.

At 1:30 AM, police broke into the club Mono. Then they forced attendees into paddy wagons and took them away. According to Ostorozhno, Novosty, the venue had hosted drag queens in the past, but no special events were happening the night of the raids. The club representatives said, "We are having a mask show!"

At 2:00 AM in Arma Club, formerly known as Mutabor, security forces forced partygoers to sit down on the floor and hold their hands behind their heads. A woman told MSK1.RU that women were let go early while men were thoroughly searched. Some attendees were forced to remain on the ground for up to three hours. The partygoers were interrogated about where they lived and worked and if they had consumed illegal substances. An unknown number of people were detained and sent for medical evaluations. Paddy wagons were spotted near the venue.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow said that a club on Skladochnaya Street was "promoting LGBT ideology," but no authority has corroborated this. Equipment, weapons, and "other items relevant to making a procedural decision" were seized during the disco's inspection. The club also sold alcohol without a permit. It was later revealed that the venue was Inferno. Ita Cherkesova, a Moscow Deputy from the Communist Party, claimed Inferno held loud "trans parties." The rumor spread that the club Simach was also raided, but its representatives said the night proceeded as usual. 

Police raided the clubs in Moscow exactly a year after the nonexistent "International LGBT movement" was declared an extremist movement by the Russian Supreme Court. These incidents come just a few days after a raid on a queer nightclub in Voronezh.

You Might Also Like

Putin Still Popular
  • October 13, 2024

Putin Still Popular

Breaking News: A state-funded study finds Putin's public support is still high.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955