Anti-riot police raided an activist meeting near St. Petersburg that state television claimed was an “LGBT party against the special military operation” in Ukraine, the independent news website Mediazona reported Thursday.
The broadcasters Ren-TV and 78.ru published identical reports of the Feb. 18 raid showing masked agents lining up several attendees and asking them about their affiliations with the so-called “LGBT movement.”
Russia’s Supreme Court banned the “international LGBT movement,” a group that does not formally exist, in November. The move sparked fears that authorities could use the vague designation to carry out sweeping persecutions of LGBTQ+ people.
“[Police] found items with LGBT symbols banned in Russia, suspicious documents and handwritten opposition materials,” a TV reporter said.
Mediazona said one of the “opposition materials” was a sheet of paper with questions about a person’s worries and hopes for the future. The answers written on the paper were reportedly related to the invasion of Ukraine and the persecution of activists.
Citing the private Telegram channel of one of the unidentified attendees, Mediazona said the “party” was in fact a support group meeting that included young transgender people.
The participant said police officers held them and about 10 other attendees face-down on the floor for four hours, pulled their hair and kicked them while subjecting them to verbal abuse.
Mediazona noted that both Ren TV and 78.ru are owned by the major private media holding National Media Group.
National Media Group is owned by Russian billionaire Yury Kovalchuk, a sanctioned banker close to President Vladimir Putin.
Although 78.ru said the attendees were at risk of several criminal charges, Mediazona noted that the report made no mention of whether they were ultimately charged.