The Pose case: how running a bar led to years in prison

Published: 8 October 2026

They worked at a bar that hosted drag shows. Now each has a criminal conviction for extremism. The case of Pose in Orenburg became the first known criminal prosecution in which the ban on the “international LGBT movement” was applied to the owner and staff of a nightlife venue.

We wrote about the case when the sentences were handed down. Since then, those sentences have been revised. We have brought the story together so that neither its significance nor the people affected get lost in a succession of court reports.

November 2023: a ban without a specific organisation

On 30 November 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court declared the “international LGBT public movement” extremist. Under this label, the authorities grouped together people who have neither shared leadership nor a common membership. The SOVA Research Centre, for example, considers the ruling unlawful: the arguments it relies on do not justify applying anti-extremism legislation, and peaceful criticism of homophobia is not itself an offence. SOVA

The name of the banned “movement” suggested a threat primarily to activists and human rights initiatives. Yet the first known criminal case targeted a commercial venue. A Memorial lawyer explained to Mediazona that activists had already recognised the danger and were withdrawing from public work, while raiding an operating club was easier than pursuing an individual activist. Serving a queer audience had become sufficient grounds for the authorities to look for the “movement” in a business, too. Mediazona

In the Pose case, this abstract ban was applied in a very concrete way. Investigators treated the venue’s parties, performers’ shows and posts about them as the activities of a banned organisation. The prosecution targeted the owner, administrator and art director — the people whose work kept the bar running.

March 2024: the raid and the first arrests

Pose opened in Orenburg in 2021. It presented itself as a bar with theatrical drag shows: stage performances using costume and playing with gender expression. In the early hours of 9 March 2024, police and National Guard officers raided the venue. Members of the “Russian Community of Orenburg” also took part.

The dry word “raid” conceals the experience of people who had come for an evening out and found themselves at the mercy of security officers. People who spoke to Mediazona described beatings and the use of stun guns. It matters that these accounts remain visible as eyewitness testimony, rather than disappearing behind subsequent reports of sentences and hearings.

On 20 March, a court remanded administrator Diana Kamilyanova and art director Alexander Klimov in custody. By the end of the month, owner Vyacheslav Khasanov had also been arrested. This became the first known criminal prosecution for involvement in the “LGBT movement” after its ban. Staff remanded in custody; Owner arrested

The pretrial restrictions changed over time: in May 2024, Kamilyanova and Klimov were transferred to house arrest. The case reached court in July 2025. More than two years passed between the raid and the verdict — time during which criminal proceedings displaced the ordinary lives of three people.

June 2026: the verdict

On 29 June 2026, Orenburg’s Central District Court sentenced Khasanov to seven years in a penal colony, Kamilyanova to six years and three months, and Klimov to two years and three months. None admitted guilt. These were the sentences we reported in our June publication. Meduza

The owner and administrator were convicted of organising the activities of an extremist organisation; the art director was convicted of participation — under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code respectively. This was a significant distinction in the charges, even though all three were prosecuted in connection with the same venue.

The court also ordered the recovery of more than one million roubles from Khasanov, treating the money as proceeds of crime. According to media accounts of the prosecution’s allegations, Kamilyanova filmed performers’ shows, while Klimov held meetings with the performers and posted material on Telegram. Activities recognisable as the everyday work of an entertainment venue took on a completely different meaning in the criminal case.

September 2026: shorter sentences, convictions upheld

The story did not end with the June news. On 8 September 2026, Orenburg Regional Court heard the appeal and reduced the sentences:

• Vyacheslav Khasanov: from seven years to six years and ten months.
• Diana Kamilyanova: from six years and three months to six years.
• Alexander Klimov: from two years and three months to two years.

The court also removed some wording from the judgment. But the convictions remained: the outcome was a reduction of two or three months, not an acquittal. Mediazona: the appeal outcome

For someone deprived of their liberty, a few months matter. Yet this reduction leaves the central question unanswered: why did working at a bar with drag shows become grounds for years in prison at all?

Why this matters beyond one bar

What is frightening here goes beyond the length of the sentences. The case shows how a ban with a vague name turns into the prosecution of specific people. First comes the language of a “movement”. Then comes the allegation that its activities can be found in parties and performances. At the end are names, criminal charges and years of punishment.

For the queer community, cases like this also mean losing places to meet, see something of themselves on stage and, for an evening, feel among their own. The threat reaches the very existence of these spaces: their work comes to be viewed through suspicion of “extremism”.

Behind the name Pose, we must keep seeing the people. Vyacheslav Khasanov, Diana Kamilyanova and Alexander Klimov are not faceless “defendants” in another news report. Shorter sentences do not make their prosecution just, or undo how much of their lives it has already taken.