On Thursday, about 80 mostly female young people gathered at the Central Moscow bar 7 Free Days to celebrate Coming Out Day.

Shortly after the party began, a crew of masked men stormed the bar. They were wearing dark clothes and had their heads shaved, a typical look for Russian ultra-nationalists.

They shouted “Did you want a show?” and started smashing everything around them and beating people, threatening them with guns, witnesses say.

“They were overturning tables and beating customers. Many were injured,” said witness Pavel Somburov, an activist from the Rainbow Association. “Then they suddenly left after an order from one of them.”