Stop the Parties!

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.