The travel agency offered tours only for men. It was enough to attract the attention of police enforcement of new Russian laws restricting gay rights.
One night in December, officers stormed the apartment of the agency's owner and tied him up, he later told the court.
“Fifteen people came to my place at night,” said owner Andrei Kotov. “They beat me in the face, kicked me, leaving me with a bruise,” his comments were reported by the Russian media and confirmed by his lawyers.
Kotov said the officers pressured him to “confess” that he runs a gay travel agency. The officer said he had deceived him, and told him: “There is no travel for gays.”
A few weeks later, it was discovered that Kotov, 48, was dead in prison. The prison official told his mother he cut himself with a razor, his lawyer, Rathan Mannapova. The circumstances of his death could not be determined independently, and Russian officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Kotov's death reflects Russia's increasingly stringent crackdown on the rights of LGBTQ people that have accelerated since the start of the war in Ukraine. President Vladimir V. Putin portrayed new restrictions and wars as part of a broader battle to maintain “traditional Russian values.”
In November 2023, the Russian Supreme Court designated the International LGBTQ Movement as an “extremist organization” on par with al-Qaeda and the Islamic state. They could face a prison sentence of six to ten years under laws targeting extremist groups, gay rights activists, their lawyers, or others involved in efforts to support LGBTQ people.
According to community members and groups like Human Rights Watch, police attacked gay night clubs and investigators targeting ordinary Russians, leading to a wave of oppression against LGBTQ people and groups.
At least 12 criminal investigations into the charges of LGBTQ extremists were launched last year, according to the Russian prison rights advocacy group OVD-INFO.
Denis Olyenik, executive director of Coming Out, which supports LGBTQ people in Russia, said the pressure from authorities initially focused on rights groups and activists.
“Running now reaches out to ordinary people, clubs and parties. It previously affected communities that distanced themselves from advocacy,” he said.
Homosexuality decriminalized Russia in 1993, inspiring a lively gay scene, including celebrities who openly talk about sexuality and the establishment of gay clubs. Tatu, a pop group where two female members pretended to be a lesbian couple and kissed between songs, was chosen by state-owned television to represent Russia in an international contest.
However, in 2013, Putin opened a salvo to gay people. When he signed a bill that outlawed the spread of what was described as “gay propaganda,” including “making non-traditional relationships attractive” – ​​to minors. In 2022, Russia introduced fines to promote “gay propaganda.”
Then came the 2023 court ruling that led to the current crackdown.
After travel agent Kotov was arrested, he was charged with creating images of child sexual abuse, but his lawyers were unable to review case materials related to the charges.
During his arrest hearing in December, investigators said images on Kotov's phone proved that he had committed a crime “opposed constitutional order and national security.”
A few weeks later, Kotov was dead.
Just two days ago, Kotov's psychological evaluations showed no suicidal tendencies, said his lawyer, Mannapova.
Kotov's mother asked prosecutors to proceed with his case after his death so that he could escape the allegations against him, his lawyer said.
“It was completely unclear to him that arranging travel for men could be considered a set up for extremist groups,” she said.
After the Supreme Court banned the LGBTQ movement in 2023, Sergei Artyomov, a 36-year-old gay man from Moscow, said he and his friends were aiming to raid the police at a Moscow nightclub. Officers cut off the exit, forced patrons to stand up against the wall and wrote down details of their ID, he said.
No one was arrested, but Artimov, who worked as a television producer, said the experience rattled him. He says he was already thinking about leaving Russia as he wanted to live openly as a gay man, and the attack strengthened his resolve.
“I knew things were just getting worse,” he said. “There's no more gray areas. They call you the enemy of people. That's it.”
He left for Spain just before Christmas, where he said he had been granted exile.
The Kremlin-led anti-gay campaign has been whipped by vigilante groups, local officials and state media.
In a far-off city in eastern Siberia, Telegram's popular media channel Priannie Yaktsk issued an alarm on vacation about “men's devotion and corruption happening under law enforcement and Yaktsk officials.”
We have released two grainy photos from the nightclub party depicting what appears to be a naked breast, one of the naked men. The Telegram Channel message said the party featured what it called Thailand's “complementary performers.”
The court later fined the club 250,000 rubles, or about $2,800 for violating civil servants because the patrons were “in a state of undressing that shamed human dignity and promoting non-traditional sexual relations.”
The Russian community, a nationalist group that styles itself as a social vigilante, has posted photos and videos from the police attack. Last year, the group posted a video of the attack at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orenburg.
The criminal case was later brought against the club's owner, manager and art director, still awaiting trial.
State media have also attacked Russians with messages about the virtues of heterosexual families. Earlier this year, Putin issued an order for his government to come up with a strategy to promote families with multiple children.
The number of Russians believes that since the Kremlin introduced its first anti-gay bill in 2013, the number of Russians believe they should not have the same rights as gay people has risen to 47-62%, according to independent poll officer Levada.
Young Russians still accept LGBTQ people more than the old ones, but they have heard their constant accusations in the media over the past year.
“They're the ones who are eager to help them get to know each other,” said Tatyana Vinnichenko, a veteran LGBTQ activist who lives in exile in Lithuania.
The trans community is a specific target for authorities, and the law was adopted in 2023, banning transhealth care and adopting changes in gender identifiers in official documents.
The latest oppression has encouraged the quiet departure of gay and trans people from Russia, activists say.
However, Tahir, a 25-year-old gay man, asked him to withhold his last name for fear of criminal prosecution, said he had no intention of leaving.
“I definitely know that things will get worse,” he said. “But I don't want to leave. This country is as mine as everyone else.”
