Police raid concert in Yekaterinburg, 3 May 2025. Photo: Svet Yekaterinburg

Russian law enforcement officers interrupted a rock concert on Saturday night at a bar in Yekaterinburg, the country’s fourth largest city, detaining attendees and checking their documents, local news outlet E1.ru has reported.

According to local Telegram channel Svet Yekaterinburg, security forces examined concertgoers’ tattoos, asked them how they felt about the war in Ukraine and “left-wing radical movements”, and searched through their messages. The raid took place at Syndrome, a bar and venue where the metal bands Poloz, Bastard Youth and Dead Generation were due to play a concert.

One eyewitness told E1.ru that after his documents were checked, he was put in a police van and held there for three hours. He said officers “looked at our phones without permission and insulted us”. It is unclear whether anyone was detained in the raid.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Russian state security forces also stormed a rave party at the Kontrkult club in St. Petersburg, checking attendees’ documents and testing them for prohibited substances, according to REN-TV. Police conducted a similar raid on a Moscow swingers club on Thursday, reportedly in search of “LGBT propaganda”.

Since Russia’s Supreme Court outlawed the “international LGBT movement” in 2023, nightlife in the country has undergone dramatic changes, with increased police raids on venues across its major cities. Armed police have been known to terrify partygoers, beating them, checking their possessions, and forcing them to lie face down on the floor, sometimes for hours at a time.